


October 2020

by A_Love_Song_She_Wrote



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Angst, Broken Bones, Character Death, Crack, Death, Demons, Douxie needs a hug, Douxie whump, Facing Your Demons, Fluff, Gun Violence, Horror, Mystery, Near Death Experiences, Non-canonical children, Psychological Torture, Self-Sacrifice, Stabbing, Suicide Attempt, Torture, Waking up Restrained, Whump, Whumptober 2020, also part of a nightmare, by force, collapsed buildings, evil!douxie, graphic description of a stabbing, i think, it's fun like that, it's in a nightmare, kind of, others dont, soft, some chapters feature the reader, the author is a meme, the further we get into the month the more crack it becomes, torturing characters for fun i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:01:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 29,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26767702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Love_Song_She_Wrote/pseuds/A_Love_Song_She_Wrote
Summary: Whumptober but there's also Douxtober, and whatever other stuff i do this monthtags will be added, and extra warnings will be added to the start of each chapter
Relationships: Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan & Zoe, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan/Reader, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan/Zoe, Hisirdoux “Douxie” Casperan & Everyone
Comments: 18
Kudos: 54





	1. Prologue

Surprise, i'm doing whumptober and douxtober. here's a prologue to prepare you.


	2. Day 1 - Hisirdoux Casperan | Waking Up Restrained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Douxie doesn’t really know how he got here, but he does know he needs to escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angsty, being forced to confront your demons, broken bones, restraints, basically a spooky scenario i inflicted upon Douxie for fun, this is not an x reader although it's technically an au for aaty if you think about it
> 
> (Whumptober prompt: waking up restrained, Douxtober prompt: dye)

Now, you may be wondering how the fuck Hisirdoux Casperan, successor to Merlin and protector of this realm got himself into this situation.

Well, kids, Hisirdoux Casperan is asking himself the exact same thing.

He had no clue how he ended up alone, shackled to a desk in what looked like an interrogation room. He didn’t know why he was there, or where his familiar was, or who put him there, but he did know one thing. He had to get out.

Douxie had already tried pulling at his restraints. That hadn’t worked, and now his wrist was sore. That was definitely going to leave a mark, but he could worry about it later.

Next, he tried magic. The brace that usually encircled his arm was gone, so he was on his own on those terms. Still, he tried his best.

Lines of blue light curled around metal, spreading over the chains, across the desk and around the room. Nothing happened.

With a sigh, Douxie sat back, examining the interrogation room he found himself in. How the _hell_ did he get here? The wizard closed his eyes and tried to remember.

Had he been with Merlin? No, Merlin was… nevermind. He must’ve been with Nari then, but where? Douxie, Archie and Nari had been headed for the East coast, but somehow, he doubted that they’d made it to New York. If he was here, where were his friends?

And where was _here?_ He opened his eyes again, trying to find a clue that might explain where he was.

There was a bright light above him, the only light source in the room. The paint on the walls was badly chipped and stained, showing clear signs of age and unlike most other interrogation rooms, the walls were bare. The desk in front of him was metal, the top of it sticky with various unknown substances. The air smelled like iron, sweat and death, which was not comforting in the slightest. The floor was covered in footprints, all of them stained red and all of them leading to a large metal door. As Douxie’s eyes traced trails of crimson across the ground, he found the source of the stains. A puddle of red _something_ covered one corner of the room. The wizard did not want to know what that was.

To distract himself, Douxie checked under the table. There was nothing directly beneath it, but on the underside of the desk, there was a newspaper. Someone had taped it there for him to find. Lovely.

Douxie grabbed the thing, pulling it into the light where he could see it. The paper was older and faded, but he could still read the writing scrawled across the thinning sheet.

“Infamous Cult Leader Found Dead in his Compound.”

Oh, fuzz buckets. He checked the date. It was something in the ’60s, but he couldn’t tell when. The wizard looked further down the page to the picture. It was the compound where the cultist was found. To Douxi’s horror, he recognized that building. His hands began to shake as he remembered. He had been the one to kill the cult leader.

It was justified, of course. The cultist had hurt a lot of people, and he was planning on doing worse things. Douxie also remembered something about the Manson knock-off hurting someone important to him, but the details were fuzzy. Either way, this was not a good sign.

Behind him, someone coughed. The wizard spun around, looking for whoever had made the noise. There was no one there, but the walls weren’t barren anymore. Another series of newspapers were attached to the nearest wall. Douxie stood, leaning as far as his restraints would let him, straining to see what was written on them.

These papers were newer, the paper less yellowed and the date reading sometime in the 1980s. The headline was unreadable, but Douxie recognized the picture beneath it. A familiar street with bent lamp posts and badly cracked sidewalks. He’d fought Bular, the Gumm-Gumm prince there, and he hadn’t done it alone.

On the ground there was another paper, this one quickly turning red wherever it touched the footprints. He couldn’t read much of it, but he knew where it was from. Arcadia. Home.

The sight of the town covered in red filled him with dread.

Something fell on the table in front of him. It made a sickening noise when it collided with the desk, one that made Douxie feel physically ill. He didn’t want to look. He didn’t want to know what landed before him, but he knew he had no choice. The wizard had figured out this game, or at least part of it. Look around, find clues, put something together and escape. If he wanted to see his friends again he’d have to look.

The table was blue.

What the hell?

Douxie sat back down at the table. Keeping his shackled hand at his side, he reached out towards whatever blue liquid coated the metal. He stopped before he touched it. Was this… was that hair dye?

What? The fuck?

More papers fell into the dye, splashing the blue around the room and turning the red footprints purple. These ones were even newer, but something was wrong here. These headlines… how could anyone know about these?

“Merlin is Dead,”

“You Let Him Die,”

“Everyone You Love Will Die,”

“It’s Your Fault,”

“You’re a Failure Casperan,”

“Failure,”

“Failure,”

“Failure,”

It wasn’t just headlines anymore. There were voices, voices of the people he loved, all of them calling him a failure, a killer, telling him that everything was his fault. That what happened to Merlin was his fault.

Douxie fell to the ground, the floor hitting his knees hard enough to bruise. But the pain was nothing. All he could hear was the sound of his failures. The wizard tried to bring his hands over his ears, desperate to block out the noise, but the restraints on his wrist were getting tighter.

“No, no, it wasn’t-” Douxie pulled on his arm, bruising his wrist further in a futile attempt to escape, “It wasn’t my fault, I did everything I could, I-”

**“Did you?”**

The voices joined together.

Then they laughed.

It was quite possibly the worst sound Douxie had ever heard. It curled around him and refused to let go. The sound grated on him, scratching inside of the wizard’s skull. 

**“Did you do everything you could, Hisirdoux Casperan?”**

The voices, now one, did not give him time to answer.

**“You are a failure,”** it snapped, **“You are a killer,”**

“No-”

**“You are the reason Merlin is dead,”**

“No, no, no, NO, SHUT UP!”

The voice just laughed.

And then it did something worse.

It became _his_ voice. Scratchy and soft at the same time, it was almost singing, and it was definitely his voice.

**“You are such an interesting little thing but your fear has done little to sustain me. Now you have to die here,”**

“What!?”

**“Goodbye, Hisirdoux Casperan,”**

And then his voice and all the other voices were gone. It was silent. And then he heard the buzzing. He couldn’t tell from here if it was a drill or a saw, but he did know that he had to get out. Now.

After pulling at his shackles one final time, he realized what he’d have to do.

It was not a pleasant idea, but it was the only choice he had. Bracing himself against the blue-stained table, Hisirdoux Casperan broke his fucking hand.

It was not fun. It was very painful. Douxie’s scream mixed with the sound of the saw (or drill) making the wizard’s teeth hurt in addition to his already throbbing hand. But, his plan worked, and that was the important part. With a few newly broken bones, the wizard was able to slip out of his restraints. Now, he could leave.

He walked towards the door but stopped short. The buzzing was louder here. It was right outside the door. Fuzz buckets. Time to find another way to escape.

What was there though? There was no two-sided mirror to break through, and he wasn’t sure what was on the other side of the walls.

As the buzzing got closer, Douxie decided it didn’t matter. It was time to break something.

One weak tenebris exilium later, the wall across from the door was reduced to rubble. Even though he’d been through this trauma, and his voice was shaking and fragile, the wizard was still strong.

The sun was bright outside. The air was clean and it cleared his mind. All of the things he’d forgotten he remembered. There was one thing left to do now. Fucking. Run.

So, he did.

He ran back home. 

Home. Where Archie had some fucking questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cool cool, go check the tumblr


	3. Day 2 - Reader | Pick Who Dies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You pick who dies!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angsty, stabbing, near death, ambiguous ending, douxie loses the will to live for a minute there
> 
> (Whumptober prompt: Pick Who Dies)

“It’s your choice master wizard,” the Green Knight’s voice was loud, too loud, as he gave Merlin a choice, “You pick who dies. The other goes free with you,”

You grit your teeth and struggled, trying to get away from what had once been King Arthur. Somewhere to your left Douxie shouted something in protest, fighting against Jim, who was currently a troll, no big deal. There was hissing in that direction. Archie was not pleased.

Merlin looks conflicted, more so than you’d expected. You hadn’t known Merlin long, but you’d gathered that he always did things in the interest of the greater good, and in this case, that was Douxie. You stopped struggling.

Douxie had been your friend for a while. More than a while, really. He’d saved your life during the witch trials and you’d stuck by him ever since. Now it looked like it was time to repay your debt.

“Merlin,” the old wizard met your eyes, “It’s ok,”

“NO!”

You couldn’t see him, but you could hear him fight harder. 

You knew Douxie was good in a fight. You’d been at his side for years, watching him kick ass while you protected bystanders. You knew you weren’t as strong as he was. That’s why he needed to live through this.

“It’s ok,” you whispered, “It’s ok,”

“Master, don’t do this,”

If you didn’t know him any better, you’d say Merlin looked distraught, but there was no way that’s what he was. He was just upset his apprentice was in this situation. You’d only met the old wizard recently and you all knew he had no qualms about sacrificing your life.

“As long as I draw breath, you will not hurt either of them,”

Oh. That was a surprise. And an unwelcome one.

Arthur just laughed, drawing his blade closer to your throat. You hear Douxie cry out and Archie yowl in what was probably pain. The sound pushed you to action.

“If you won’t make the choice, I will,”

You grabbed Arthur’s hand, the one gripping the sword, and you struggled to wrench the blade from his grip. Then he realized what you were doing, and he relaxed his grip, letting you run the sword through your body.

Douxie screamed something, but you couldn’t hear it. Your world was already going numb.

Arthur pushed your limp body off of his sword. Somehow, Douxie caught you. There were bright green flashes all around you, lighting up the world as you left it.

You weren’t sure how Douxie did it, but the next thing you knew, your head was resting on his chest while his arms wrapped around you, holding you tighter as if he could keep you with him just by clinging to you. Archie was in your lap, his eyes going between you and his wizard.

“Why did you do that? God, why, (Y/N)?”

There was something off about his voice.

“Are you-” you coughed, “Are you crying?”

He let out what could have been a bitter laugh or a sob. You weren’t sure, “Yes, love, I’m crying,”

You turned as much as you could, trying to face him, “Don’t-don’t cry, please,”

“Don’t leave me,”

It was your turn to bitterly laugh/sob, “I’m sorry, darling, I’m sorry,”

“God, (Y/N), why did you do this? Why?”

“Merlin-” it was getting harder to speak, “Merlin needs you,”

“And I need you,”

“And I need you alive,” you brought a hand to his face. He grabbed it, holding your hand like a lifeline, “I love you, Douxie,”

“I love you, (Y/N), I love you, please-” that was definitely sobbing, “Please stay with me,”

“‘M sorry,”

Your eyes closed, and you drifted off. The last thing you heard was his heartbeat.

“(Y/N)? (Y/N), please, wake up,” he shook you gently, “(Y/N), please,”

You didn’t respond.

“No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” Douxie looked down at your face. You looked so peaceful. You could have been sleeping.

He wished you were sleeping.

“Douxie?” Archie’s voice was quiet, shaking a little with grief and fear.

Douxie said nothing.

He said nothing, but magic was coming off of him in waves, crashing over everything and everyone with more rage than the wild sea could ever hope to hold. He placed your body on the ground and stared at the blood that painted your body and his hands.

Jim, Arthur and Merlin were thrown backwards, knocking the wind out of all three men. Archie was fortunate enough to stay out of the blast zone.

Jim got up the fastest, his full-troll form a great help in that department. He moved to attack Douxie, struggling through the field of blue magic separating you and your wizard from everyone else. Your wizard’s familiar got ready to fight.

Douxie didn’t look up. He didn’t care anymore.

Arthur did care, but not about Douxie. He cared about hurting Merlin, his apprentice and you as much as possible, and you were either dead or comatose so he was having a great day.

“Enough, beast. We made a deal,” Jim backed off, following Arthur as the King left the scene, “You made the right choice, Merlin old friend,”

Merlin had to refrain from punching Arthur in the face.

The light blue of Douxie’s magic died down, leaving him alone with Merlin and what was left of you.

The wizard approached his former apprentice.

“Come now, Hisirdoux. We must take them home,”

Douxie didn’t move.

Merlin knelt down next to you, reaching for your neck, hoping for a pulse.

“Don’t touch them.”

Both Merlin and Archie were taken aback by how cold Douxie sounded. He’d never spoken to either of them like that.

“Douxie-”

Merlin continued to go directly against his former apprentice’s wishes, placing his fingers on your throat while Archie tried to calm your wizard down.

“There’s a pulse,”

“What!?”

The old wizard had everyone’s attention now, “They’re still alive. Quickly, we need to get help,”

All three of them snapped into action, doing their best to get you to a doctor before you actually died.

Did you survive? Who fuckin knows dude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, check the tumblr, i make jokes there


	4. Day 3 - Zoe | Luck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoe’s a badass, what else can I say?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gun tw, gun tw, gun tw, also technically blunt force trauma even though it's played for laughs kind of
> 
> (Whumptober prompt: held at gunpoint/forced to their knees)

If you ignored the angry sorceresses, evil troll armies, alien dictators and ancient primordial evils, Arcadia was usually a pretty safe place.

Usually.

But with a gun pointed in her face, Zoe began to question the crime statistics in this town.

  
  


Now, Zoe had been in customer service for more than a long time. She’d seen her fair share of armed robberies, unarmed robberies, eccetera. She’d never expected it to happen here, though. Maybe it was because Arcadia was supposed to be safe, maybe it was because all they sold here were records that wouldn’t go for all that much on the black market, who really knows? Right now, the only thing that mattered was not getting shot, because that would be rather unpleasant.

So, she did what the nice man in the ski mask said and got to her knees, waiting for some opportunity to get out of this one.

“Ok, now give me everything in the register.”

“I can’t do that from down here, sir.” 

The guy with the gun wasn’t amused by Zoe’s customer service voice. She wasn’t either, it was just in her eyes this was another Karen but, y’know, with a gun.

The man growled, “Then get up and get me the money!”

“Just one moment, sir.”

The witch got up as slowly as she could. If there was a chance she was going to get shot, she might as well fuck with the guy first. With her hands raised and her eyes on the gun, Zoe took a step towards the cash register, only looking down to open the machine. As she did, she noticed the horseshoe on the shelf right beneath it. A gaggletack. She could see it. The guy with the gun couldn’t.

“So, nice weather we’re having,”

“Shut up,”

“Alright, sir. Just one more thing… do you feel lucky?”

Zoe grabbed the horseshoe and threw it at the gunman’s head. Gaggletack or not, the thing was still a heavy metal object that could give a man a concussion.

With a flick of her wrist, pink tinted bolts of magic wrapped around the man’s wrists, leaving him immobile. Nice. Now she could call the authorities.

  
  


Detective Scott was the first on the scene, because he had nothing better to do I guess, and took the guy with the gun away.

Things were peaceful again for a full forty-five seconds. Then Douxie showed up, drawn towards the flashing lights of the police cars outside of his and his friend’s places of work.

“Ah, fuzzbuckets. Zoe, what’d you do this time?”

“Hey, hey, hey, this one wasn’t me. Some guy came in with a gun and tried to rob the store,”

“Oh my god, are you alright?”

“No, I need urgent medical care, that’s why I’m in an ambulance right now.”

It is important to note that Zoe was not in an ambulance at that time.

“Ha, ha, very funny. Seriously though, are you okay?”

Zoe took a moment, looking back into the store where the gaggletack lay inconspicuously on the ground. She smirked, “Let’s just say luck was on my side.”


	5. Day 4 - Reader and Hisirdoux Casperan | Dad's a Little Slow, Lol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Man, this entire month is just gonna be a meme. Anyway, Merlin and the Reader team up to fight the police and save Douxie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> collapsed building, this one probably isn’t written, but whatever, these are all crack tbh
> 
> (Whumptober prompt: collapsed building, Douxtober prompt: Merlin)

In the approximately nine-hundred years you knew him, you had only agreed with Merlin once.

It was a cold night sometime in October, and Douxie was trapped in a collapsed building. The decision to do whatever you had to n order to free him was unanimous. Deciding whose fault it was, was not that.

“Ok, seriously, Merlin, why did you send him in there if you knew the structure was unstable?”

“He should have been able to get out before the building collapsed!”

“But he didn’t!

“He could have if you’d gone with him.”

“Oh, don’t you  _ dare _ turn this on me you motherfu-”

“Excuse me, this zone is off-limits to the public.”

Ah, shit. The cops. Your attention was stolen from your little argument with Merlin as you took in the sheer amount of officers at the scene, circling the area and keeping the public out. And trapping Douxie in.

Shiiiiiit.

You looked at the officer, then Merlin, then the pile of rubble that was once a building. Your best friend was in there along with his familiar, both of them probably hurt and maybe dying. Helping him came before everything else, so for now you had to put aside your differences with Merlin and find a way to dodge the cops and get inside.

No pressure.

Oh, I’m so sorry, sir. My father just gets so confused in his old age! We’ll be off then!” you grabbed Merlin by the arm, turning and walking off as fast as you could.

“Your father? Confused?”

“Look man, just roll with it for now.”

You made your way out of sight, hiding behind a nearby tree and watching the cops make their rounds. You tried to memorize their routes as fast as you could, trying to make a plan in your head. Were you successful? Not really, but you had to do something.

“Ok, I’m going in through the back. Watch out for the cops.”

“What!? Why would you-”

“Because Douxie’s in there and we need to get him out. Now watch out for me, ok?”

Without waiting for an answer, you ran out from behind your tree, sprinting towards the rubble. You almost made it.

“Stop! You have violated the law!”

Someone grabbed you from behind. You lifted yourself up off the ground before pulling the cop back down and flipping him over your head. It was a sick move, but in the place of one officer, two more took his place. You struggled for a second before a green light lifted the cops away from you and threw them to the ground. Behind you stood Merlin, staff in hand, keeping the police from reaching you.

You nodded at him, and he nodded back before you ran into the rubble, leaving Merlin to fight the cops.

Apart from the initial resistance, getting into the building wasn’t actually that hard. Sure, some kind of dust filled your lungs upon entry, and you couldn’t stand up all the way, but still, it wasn’t the worst place you’d ever been.

You made your way through the wreckage, cautiously moving around chunks of concrete and ruined furniture. Your hands shook slightly as you listened for any sign of Douxie or Archie.

“Douxie? Archie? Guys?”

The silence was very uncomfortable. You pressed on, calling out for your friends every few steps.

“(Y/N)?”

Someone called you! That was a good sign! Or you were going crazy, it could be either.

“Hello?”

“(Y/N), we’re over here! Come quickly, please.” the voice, you realized, was Archie’s, and you made your way over to where the sound had come from.

“Arch?”

“Here, we’re over here!”

It took a moment, but soon, the familiar came into view. Next to him was the crumpled form of Douxie.

Shiiiiiiit.

“Oh my god, oh my god, ok, ok, ok,” you panicked, “Is he-?”

“He’s alright, but we need to get out of here.”

“Agreed.”

You crawled towards them under a sunken ceiling, avoiding small piles of stone. Archie seemed to be alright, although his fur was covered with grey dust. Douxie, however, was not doing so well. His eyes were closed, and his hand was pressed to his stomach. Despite his black clothes, you could see blood.

“Doux-?”

He grumbled a little, which usually wasn’t a great sign, but at this moment, it meant he was alive. I don’t think I need to tell you that that’s a good thing.

“Hey, Doux. I need you to move a little, ok?”

More grumbling, but it sounded vaguely like a yes.

You pulled his arm around your shoulders, helping him up and out of the rubble. Archie shapeshifted into a small serpent before curling himself around your leg.

You made your way through what was left of the building, ducking under debris and trying not to choke on dust. It was going as well as crawling through a collapsed building could go. Then part of the ceiling decided to fall on you. 

You would have been crushed if not for Douxie, which was a pretty common thing now that you thought about it. Blue light surrounded the ceiling chunk, casting it to the side.

“Thank you.”

“Ughnnn.”

Unfortunately, the concrete chunk that almost crushed took out another, more important concrete chunk that held up the ceiling. Now the rest of the building was falling. Great. Adrenaline filled you, and with no other choice, you ran from the building, no longer caring about debris or dust. 

You emerged from the building, falling to your knees and coughing pretty hard. A shadow loomed over you, getting you to groan through your wheezing. You really didn’t want to deal with any more cops.

“Good to see you aren’t dead.”

Oh shit, not cops, Merlin. You thought about groaning again, but decided that hacking up your lungs was more important. 

Archie slipped off of your neck and turned back into a cat, “Yes, but not for long,”

He was right. Douxie was already passed out, and you were on the verge of it. With one last look at the wizards around you, your eyes rolled back into your head and you (finally) took a fuckin nap. It wasn’t a planned nap, but still, a nap is a nap.

Merlin was left with two unconscious immortals, an entire police force, also unconscious, and a very concerned familiar. 

"Merlin, what do we do?"

The wizard looked down at Douxie, who was still bleeding, and you, also not doing great, and felt guilty. He  _ had _ been wrong to send Douxie into that building. In his defence, Merlin had believed that his former apprentice could get out before the roof caved in, especially with your help. What he hadn't expected was for Douxie to go in there without you. But that wasn't much of a defence, was it?

"We do what we must," Merlin said, levitating you and the other wizard and walking off to find some sort of medical assistance. It was all he could do, really.

You woke up a day later. Your nap was pretty nice, but in your opinion, not long enough. Unfortunately, if you slept any longer it would be considered a coma, so waking up when you did was probably for the best.

Douxie woke up an hour later than you did, technically classifying his nap as a coma. You stayed by his side the entire time.

“Ughnnn, fuzzbuckets.”

“Hey you, you’re finally awake.”

“Don’t you Skyrim me.”

“I can Skyrim you all I like, I pulled you out of a collapsed building,” you said, grabbing his hand and threading your fingers through his.

“Oh, uh, thank you.”

“Eh, it was my fault anyway. I should have gone in with you.”

“That’s false,” Douxie said, struggling to sit up, motioning for you to sit on the edge of his bed instead of the ground, “I told you to stay outside, remember?”

“Still, I feel bad,” you muttered, moving from the floor to the bed.

“Don’t. You saved my life, I owe you one.”

“Nah, I still owe you from that time in Berlin.”

“Do you?”

“Mhmm,” you leaned towards Douxie, “I do.”

“Interesting.”

The two of you came closer together, your noses brushing together, your lips hovering over his. Douxie’s hand slipped from yours, finding your side while your hand cupped his face.

“Very.”

Annnnnnd bam. Kiss. It was soft and gentle because y’know, collapsed building, but it was still very sweet. You probably could’ve kissed for way longer if someone hadn’t cleared their throat behind you.

“Am I interrupting something?”

God damnit Merlin, “Yes.”

“No,” Douxie’s voice cracked like spaghetti in a small pot.

“It matters not. Whenever you’re ready, I require your assistance in my study.”

“Yeah, cool, thank you, Merlin.”

The old wizard rolled his eyes, though there was a slight fondness to it that hadn’t been there before. Merlin walked off, leaving you and Douxie alone. There was a moment of silence.

“So, you ready, or?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Same.”

You and Douxie made premarital eye contact, which we all know is a sin. He moved to kiss you again, and he would have if Archie hadn’t flown through the door.

“Good to see you two awake! Am I interrupting something?”

You said no, but inside, you screamed.


	6. Day 6 - Reader and Hisirdoux Casperan | A Lot Happens in a Short Amount of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You remember the child surprise from the Witcher? yeah, this was it’s distant cousin, the surprise child. (No one is pregnant, I promise)
> 
> {aka: Oh look, a Douxtober fic! no whump here! And it’s technically a part of aaty (if you want it to be)}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Children (and i ignore how both kids and adoption work)

Life was a funny thing. Sometimes you got tortured, sometimes you moved in with your boyfriend, his familiar, sometimes your boyfriend died and came back to life trying to save the world, and sometimes, you accidentally adopted a child.

It just be like that occasionally.

And you could explain this! You totally could, 100%. This wasn’t just the two of you plus Archie and technically Zoe shoplifting a kid, there was a lot more to it than that. 

  
It was about a month after all of the Arcane Order nonsense. You and Douxie, your aforementioned boyfriend, had returned to Arcadia. Everything was calm and chill, which was a really nice change from the usual world-ending chaos. However, Arcadia was still Arcadia, and that meant monsters.

You were decent in a fight, Archie could turn into a goddamn dragon, and Douxie had saved the world multiple times, so you took it upon yourselves to defend the town from the things that went bump in the night. Besides, you wanted to give the rest of your troll-hunting friends a break.

This turned out to be a pretty good plan. It kept the town safe, let Archie get some fresh air, and gave you and Douxie time alone. (Remember kids, monster-fighting is a great activity for date night.) Sometimes you dragged Zoe out with you, which she enjoyed more than she let on.

All was well, and then suddenly, kid. 

As has been stated, it be like that sometimes. You know the child surprise from the Witcher? Yeah, this was its distant cousin, the surprise child. 

You’d been caught in a battle with another friggin shadow mephit or ten, and it wasn’t going super well if you were completely honest. Zoe was fighting on a roof, Douxie was stuck in a tree, Archie was trying to free Douxie from that tree, and you had given up on your usual weapon for a folding chair. It was mildly effective, but not enough to save you. One of the mephits knocked you to the ground, preparing to take a sizable bite of your arm before a blast of purple slapped the bitch away. You got to your knees, looking out into the night to see a frickin eight-year-old, arms outstretched, purple light surrounding their fists.

“Uh, are you guys seeing this?” 

Zoe gracefully leapt from the roof while Douxie fell out of the tree he was in.

“The child? Yep.”

“Ow.”

You winced, walking over to help your boyfriend to his feet, “Ah, you okay, babe?”

He nodded, although his focus was on the kid, who was taking out shadow mephits like a bawse. You would have been confused, but hey, you could fight like that when you were that age. Though that had come from years on the streets fighting for your life, so there was a place for concern.

“Hey, should we be helping them?”

“Yeah, probably,” you said, picking up your folding chair and yeeting yourself into the fray.

With the extra assistance, the mephits went down a little easier. You and your gang made sure to watch out for the sudden child, but they were pretty damn capable. It only took ten minutes for the tide to turn. Douxie opened the portal to limbo, banishing the mephits from the material plane.

You took half a second to be excited before turning to the random frickin kid who just kicked all the ass. Their expression was grim, with no trace of pride. It was kind of a mood, actually.

“Hey, kid! You ok?”

Their attention was yoinked from the pavement to your face, “I’m fine.”

You nodded, cautiously approaching them, “You fought really well. Where’d you learn to do that?”

“Why does it matter?” their tone was biting and angry. Or as biting and angry as a child’s tone could be.

“It doesn’t, I was just curious.”

“Don’t be. It’s fine.” Man, did this kid sound like a younger version of you? or what? It was kind of scary actually.

“Alright, I won’t be,” you raised your hands in surrender, taking a step back.

This ‘fun’ conversation had caught everyone else’s attention. Archie flew around the kid before landing on your shoulder, “They won’t, but I will be. Where are your parents?”

“Don’t have any.”

Oh, mood. For all of you, actually. 

“Do you have another guardian?”

“No.”

“Why are you fighting monsters at this hour?”

“Because I feel like it, ok!?”

Archie pulled back a bit, “It’s a school night…”

You gave the familiar a pat on the head while Zoe made her approach, “No, the cat is right, it is a school night.”

“Cat? That’s a dragon!” you smiled a little as the kid finally acted like a kid.

“He’s a shapeshifter, actually,” Douxie said, almost making you jump. You hadn’t realized that he was behind you. Arch made his way off of your shoulders and onto your boyfriend’s.

“A sHAPESHIFTER!?” the kid cried, magic again at the ready.

“No, no, no!” you exclaimed, putting yourself between the kid and the cat, “He’s a friend. I promise.”

“Your words mean nothing to me! I don’t know you! Any of you!”

Ok, that was fair. You sighed and got down to the kid's level, “Ok. My name’s (Y/N). The shapeshifter is called Archie, but that’s not his full name.”

The kid blinked a bit, lowering their hands, “Wh-what’s his full name?”

Archie flew down to the ground beside you, continuing towards the child, “Archibald. Pleased to meet you.”

“It’s… nice to meet you too-?” the kid sounded confused, and they were reminding you of yourself more and more with every second. On the bright side, they dropped their hands completely, magic fading into the night.

“Right, well,” Douxie got on your level, kneeling beside you to meet the kid’s eyes, “I’m Douxie and this is Zoe-”

“‘Sup.”

“What’s your name?”

They hesitated, looking between you and Archie, who was currently sniffing the child.

“My name is Robin.”

You smiled, the ice officially broken, “It’s nice to meet you, Robin.”

  
You let the kid follow you home. Through a bit of careful chatting, you learned that Robin was about eight, and their parents were wizards when they were alive. After their parents passed, Robin was on their own, running around the country and fending for themself. They reminded you so much of yourself that it hurt. Now there was a child sleeping on your couch, arms thrown around Archie which the familiar didn’t really mind, and you had no idea what to do next.

  
You were sitting on your counter, a cup of coffee in one hand while the other messed with Douxie’s hair. Zoe was at the kitchen table, lying limply across two chairs while her tea cooled in its mug. Your lovely, lovely wizard boyf was leaning on the counter next to you, pretty relaxed considering the day's events.

“So, what do we do with this child?”

“They might have to stay with us for a while. It doesn’t sound like they have anywhere else to go.”

Zoe laughed a little, trying to keep quiet for Robin’s sake, “You two just straight up adopted a kid. Good luck with that one.”

“Thanks, Zo,” your tone was flat, but you too saw the amusement in this situation, “Thank god I studied medicine, honestly. If I hadn’t we’d be sooo screwed.”

“Well, you know the people in this town,” Douxie moved closer to you, “Nobody tips.”

You nodded your agreement, kissing the top of Douxie’s head.

“We should be careful though. These days, you never know where the next ‘end of the world’ will come from.”

“Eh,” you said, looking at Robin asleep on your couch. They looked so peaceful, and you wondered if you ever looked like that at Robin’s age. They reminded you so much of yourself, so much of what you had once been, “I think it’ll be okay.”

There was a moment of silence as you all lost yourselves in thought.

  
“Well, I’d love to stay and watch you guys sign the adoption papers, but I have a shift tomorrow, so,” the pink-haired witch jumped up from her chairs and wandered past you guys, “Later nerds.”

“Bye Zo.”

“See you tomorrow.”

You lept off the counter, picking up your mug and Zoe’s and putting them in the sink. Douxie watched you, still leaning on the counter. You moved past him again, and he wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you to his chest.

“You’re sure we can watch this kid?”

You bit your lip, looking back at the couch before turning back to Douxie, “When I was that age, all I wanted was a home. Somewhere safe where I didn’t have to worry about tomorrow. If we can give that to this kid then-” you cut yourself off and shrugged.

Douxie smiled, placing a hand on your cheek, “I love you so much.”

You leaned into his touch, “Besides, we have Archie, and he took care of you, so…”

You both laughed a little at that, pulling each other closer. His lips met yours in a soft kiss. You pulled apart from the kiss grinning, but something in Douxie’s eyes confused you.

“Babe? You good?”

“I’m better than good, darling. In fact, I-” he cut himself off, looking behind him and around the room before patting himself down, “Oh, fuzzbuckets.”

“Babe? What’s up? What are you-?”

“I’ll be right back!” he said, giving you a quick kiss before running out the door.

“Uh… ok.”

You ran a hand through your hair before walking through your apartment, making sure everything was locked and warded.

“Why are you helping me?”

You spun around to see Robin, clutching Archie in one hand and keeping the other levelled at you. Purple magic surrounded both hands.

“Well, good morning to you too.”

Archie seemed displeased with your little joke, but he stayed silent for now.

“No jokes!” were they- were they crying? “Just tell me why!”

“Robin, I-”

“I was supposed to kill you! I was supposed to find you and kill you but-” their voice broke, “But you aren’t-” oop, crying child! Crying child in your living room!

“Woah, hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong kiddo?” you approached Robin slowly.

“Why-” sob “Why are you like this?”

“I ask myself that question every day,” you knelt down to their level once again, “You don’t have to do this.”

“I do! I have to, or they’ll-”

“They?”

“They… the titans. If I don’t kill Merlin’s successor then they’ll… they’ll kill me.”

A little smile crossed your face as you took Archie from Robin’s grasp. The kid was so worked up they didn’t even notice.

“I was in the same place once, almost a thousand years ago.”

“No. You aren’t old enough!”

You giggled a little at that, “Looks can be deceiving. Back in the day, I was a spy. I worked for some very bad guys. They sent me to get information from Merlin himself.”

“Wh-what did you do?”

“I did what they asked. I was scared and alone. But do you wanna know what Douxie did?”

“Douxie’s old too!?”

“Yes, Douxie’s old too.”

“What did he do?”

“Well, he fought with me at first, but in the long run, he saved my life. He wouldn’t let the bad guys hurt me, and now, we won’t let them hurt you.”

With a sob, Robin jumped at you, not with an attack but with a hug. You were a little surprised, but you rolled with it.

“Please don’t let them hurt me.”

“We won’t. I promise.” you let Robin hug you for as long as they needed, making frantic ‘be quiet’ signs at Douxie when he came through the door. He looked confused, but stayed quiet and snuck into the kitchen, waiting for you.

“Thank you.” the kid said, looking a little embarrassed as they pulled away.

“It’s no problem kiddo. Now, to bed with you. It’s late and you are a child.”

“And the floor is made of floor. Goodnight, (Y/N).” 

“Goodnight little bird.”

You made sure they were safely tucked in before motioning for Archie to follow you as you grabbed Douxie from the kitchen and silently dragged him into your bedroom.

“Ok, we’re adopting the kid.”

“I thought we agreed upon that already?”

“Yeah, well, I’m confirming it now. That’s our kid.”

“And you’re not going to tell him about-”

“Time and place, Arch, time and place.”

Douxie looked between you and his familiar, trying to figure out what he’d missed. You sighed, knowing that this wouldn’t be something you could keep from him.

“It isn’t my story to tell but the kid was sent here to kill us, but they couldn’t. Doux, I know that sounds bad, but Robin is eight. I was nineteen when I was sent to spy on you and Merlin, and you know that messed me up. We can’t let this kid-”

“I know,” he put his hands on your arms, trying to calm you, “(Y/N), I know. We won’t let this kid get hurt the way you were, I promise.”

You said nothing, but you hugged Douxie hard enough to make him stumble back a little. Archie shook his little cat head, but joined in on the hug, “We’ll keep them safe, (Y/N), that’s a promise.”

“Thanks, guys,” you pulled back, absolutely beaming, “I love you both, just a fun fact.”  
Archie gave your face a lil’ headbutt as cats are prone to do, but Douxie got that look again. You were about to say his name when he pulled you close to him, his lips grazing your ear as he slipped something into your hand.

“I love you, too. Marry me.”

There was a ring in the palm of your hand. Douxie left a kiss on your neck before pulling away to look at you.

“I-”

“Yes.”

“Wait, I had a speech prepared-”

“No speech needed, just,” you kissed him for a second before pulling back, “Marry me.”

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second,” with that out of the way, you got back to kissing.

Archie realized what had taken place before him and did the cat/dragon equivalent to a face-palm, “Really, Douxie? The bathroom?”

I mean, fair point, the bathroom wasn't a traditionally romantic space, but love followed you and Douxie around wherever you went, so it didn’t really matter. You laughed anyway.

“Thanks, Arch.”

The familiar grinned as much as a cat could, “No problem. Congratulations, though. I mean that sincerely.”

“Thank you, Archie,” you gave the familiar’s head a lil’ scratch before kissing Douxie, your fiancé, again (and again, and again.) 


	7. Day 7 - Douxie and Zoe | Not a Fic but still Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (whumptober prompt: carrying)

no fic for day 7, just the headcanon that douxie and zoe can lift each other up with minimal difficulty


	8. Day 9 - Zoe | Self Sacrifice but make it a Meme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoe’s a badass again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i might be gay for zoe??? we’ll see ig. ALSO, THE CROCOTTA IS AN ESTABLISHED CRYPTID, GOOGLE THEM THEY’RE PRETTY COOL. 
> 
> anyway, death, blood, etc.
> 
> (whumptober prompt: take me instead)

So, Zoe had known Douxie for a while, right?

They were bros, they’d been through a lot, yeah?

So it makes sense that she wouldn’t let him get hurt, right?

It does! To everyone except for Douxie.

That’s why he was so confused and concerned when she did what we in the business like to call, “pulling a Jesus,” and died for him (and she came back, doubling the Jesus factor.)

They’d been on a typical monster hunt, nothing new, just some goblins that needed to be taken care of. Did the goblins murder Zoe? No, they aren’t sexy enough to commit a crime of that magnitude. Nope, they had back-up, which did not bode well for the witch and wizard.

And it wasn’t because they weren’t skilled. Both Douxie and Zoe were excellent in a combat situation, it’s just no one’s ever really prepared for a crocotta.

They should have known something was wrong when the goblins started to retreat. Goblins didn’t really retreat unless there was something bigger around the corner. A crocotta is much bigger than a goblin.

Now I know I’m making a huge meme out of this, but the crocotta should be taken at least kind of seriously. They aren’t exactly a pretty sight, and although they look like massive dogs, they are anything but good bois. They were actually known to devour whoever they could lure in. Violently, devour. As not-nice as that sounds, a crocotta isn’t too hard to kill if you know what it is (and you’re okay with killing something that vaguely resembles a dog).

But Douxie and Zoe didn’t know what they were dealing with. And that’s not really their fault, Crocottas aren’t native to California. This thing had come here through unknown means to ruin everyone’s day, and because of that, Zoe got unalived. Thanks, Obama. 

-

The witch and wizard watched the goblins back away, the little green fuckers grinning as they backed off into the night.

“Well. That was anticlimactic.”

“You said it, dude.”

“That’s probably for the best. I told Archie I’d try to stay safe.”

“And he believed you?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

Zoe grinned, shaking her head. It appeared for now that the danger had passed, and Arcadia was safe for another night.

  
And it should have been, but I needed content, so it wasn’t.

Instead, there was a soft hissing, almost like a rasping intake of breath. The sound came from behind them, but there was nothing there. At least, nothing they could see. The breathing, which sounded a little more like choking, to be honest, got louder, closer. It almost sounded familiar. The thing gasped and coughed almost as if the thing had never used its voice before. 

The street lights around the witch and wizard began to flicker as the shaky breathing echoed around them, blocking out every other sound. The duo got ready to fight, blue and pink magic surrounding them. The streetlights all died out, lightbulbs bursting one by one leaving the street bathed in darkness with the exception of Douxie and Zoe’s magic. 

But none of this was creepy enough. No, the thing just had to speak in a voice that did not belong to it.

“Hisirdoux, come to me.” The voice was layered and rough, and so, so familiar, burning itself into the witch and wizard, sending chills through them both. That couldn’t be-

“And don’t ‘But Master’ me.”

Shit.

See, the thing about crocotta is that they use the voices of loved ones to lure in their prey, like many other monsters. This would have been fine if Douxie and Zoe weren’t two immortal beings who had lost pretty much everything and everyone they loved to the cruel vortex of time. 

But they were. And this particular crocotta decided to use the voice of Merlin.

“No, no, it can’t be, can it?” Douxie looked around frantically, drawing closer to Zoe without noticing it.

It wasn’t but you can see how one could be fooled.

“I don’t-”

“Come to me, Hisirdoux.”  
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” Douxie kept searching for the source of the voice, for his old mentor, the father-figure he’d lost.

The wizard’s magic faded away as he covered his ears, Merlin’s voice repeating his name over and over again. Zoe tried her best to light up the darkness, looking for whatever it was that decided to torment her friend.

And then Merlin’s voice was gone.

“Zoe,” wait, fuck, no.

“Zooooooooe,” a new voice sang out, carrying through the air.

She recognized it.

“What-”

“Zoe, come to me.”

No. That voice, the person it belonged to had been dead for years. There was no way it was them.

“Zoe!” it hissed, sounding angrier now, “Come to me.”

Something was wrong here.

The voice changed again, this one a mix of Merlin and the voice Zoe recognized, but it didn’t stop there. There were more, more people chanting, “Come to me,” over and over again until they heard everyone they knew just repeating that phrase.

By that time, Douxie had recovered from that nasty little shock. His fists were ringed with blue light, and pink static crackled between Zoe’s fingers. They looked again for the source of the noise, and this time, they found it.

The crocotta stepped into view.

  
At first, Zoe thought it was a dog. But it wasn’t, and it never had been. For starters, the creature was way too big, maybe the size of a small horse? She really didn’t have time to go and measure the thing herself. Its body was dog-like, but its face- its face was horrifying, a monstrosity that ranked just under some of the worst things Zoe had seen in her nine-hundred-twenty-three years. The thing’s mouth stretched clear across its face, jagged teeth lining its maw. Drool dripped from its lips as its golden eyes stared clear into the witch, not seeing anything more than a meal.

  
There were thirty seconds of silence as both parties took each other in. On the thirty-first second, the thing growled out her name again, the sound slipping out of the dog-like thing, in a way that didn’t even look natural.

On the thirty-second second, Zoe said fuck. 

On the thirty-third second, it pounced.

Zoe rolled out of the way, and Douxie jumped out of the thing’s path. It turned on the wizard, gnashing its teeth and yelling in Merlin’s voice.

“Stop running, Hisirdoux!”

It came at him again, missing Douxie’s leg by half an inch. It received a blast of blue in the face for its trouble. The crocotta shook the spell off and continued its pursuit, receiving a metric shit-ton of magic to the face, and yet it persisted.

At some point, Zoe had to say “fuck that” and try a different approach. She ran at the creature and jumped onto its back, jabbing her hands into its sides and electrocuting the shit out of it. Her strategy worked for a second before the creature rolled over, shaking her off. 

“Zoe, no!” she could hear Douxie screaming, but she couldn’t see him.

“Zooooooe.” the thing sang, speaking again in a single voice as it prowled towards her. The witch backed up frantically, trying to escape. Douxie tried to help, but something kept him in place. He couldn’t move.

Another fun fact, according to some legends, staring at the crocotta three times will freeze you in place. Is that what this is? Who knows.

Either way, Zoe was kinda screwed. As hard as she struggled to get away, the creature was a little stronger than the witch, and a little faster too.

Everyone figured that out when the thing’s teeth sunk into her leg.

  
Douxie was very not okay with this.

Screams in general are not a fun sound, and it’s worse when they come from your best human friend. But sometimes, that noise can be very freeing.

The wizard broke free and blasted the fucker into next week. The first crocotta was dead. The second one was right behind Douxie.

They didn’t even have time to celebrate their momentary win.

  
The thing bit into Douxie’s shoulder, dragging him to the ground. Zoe screamed his name, and stood, trying to keep her weight off her injured leg. Upon assessing the situation, it became clear that there was no way in hell she’d be able to land a hit without hurting Douxie.

There was only one choice really.

Come on bro, you knew where this was going.

Zoe tackled the crocotta, the pair of them rolling across the ground. The rough concrete scratched the shit out of Zoe’s skin, but she didn’t feel it. She was a bit preoccupied with the monster she was trying to kill.

She was screaming, the monster was screaming, Douxie wasn’t screaming because he was going into shock but he was probably screaming on the inside.

And then Zoe lit up the crocotta with magic, pink electricity ran through its body, burning it to a crisp and killing them both.

  
Fucking rip dude.

  
I mean, for Zoe it was temporary, but still, fuckin rip.

  
Douxie snapped back to reality as much as a person who’d lost a lot of blood could. He struggled over to his friend, her skin charred and bloody.

“Zoe? Zoe!?”

There was no response.

“No, god, no,” his hands hovered over her body, not touching her. He’d already seen Merlin turn to ash, he didn’t want to watch Zoe crumble away to nothing. He couldn’t do that again. And he didn’t have to!

“Ugh, motherfuc- Douxie?”

For a second, the wizard panicked. If this was Zoe, great. But it could be another one of those things, and he wasn’t ready to fight again. Not yet.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to.

“Dude, what the hell happened?”

“Oh my god, Zoe! You’re alive!”

“Of course I’m alive, what the-”

He hugged her now, no longer afraid that she’d turn to dust, “Please don’t do that again, please.”

“Do what-?”

“Don’t die please and thank you.”

“Oh.”

Silence finally spread through the night as Zoe realized just what happened.

“I won’t… die, anymore as long as you don’t.”

“It’s a deal.”

“Pleasure doing business with you. Just, by the way, are you hungry?”

“... yeah, actually.”

And then they got food, which is of course what you do with your friends post-mortem.


	9. Day 10 - Hisirdoux Casperan | Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, when you’re about to die, you need to say goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> death, blood, grief, actually sad i think????? maybe???, full angst, douxie’s fucking dying and i pulled a “the fault in our stars” at the end, lol
> 
> (whumptober prompt: blood loss)

“This is Zoe, I’m not here, you know what to do.” 

“Hey, Zoe, uh… something bad happened. I don’t think I’m going to make it back to Arcadia. If I don’t, could you do me a favour and make sure Archie is ok? Don’t-don’t let him blame himself for this, it’s not his fault… Oh, and tell Laura at the café that I quit or something. It doesn’t really matter what you say as long as you make it clear that I’m not coming back. You don’t have to tell them what happened to me. Actually, _please don’t_ tell them what happened, they don’t need to know. Nobody does, especially not them, and not you. And I’m sorry about that-”

A dry cough escaped Douxie’s lips, and with it, a little bit of blood. That was no surprise, really, massive stab wounds will do that to you. Douxie lowered the phone for a second and hovered the hand that wasn’t holding the Rectangle of Bad Omens™ over his chest. His fingers came back covered with sticky red blood. That’s not great.

“This isn’t looking good, Zoe,” he groaned, “I’m… I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I can’t make it back to you. I wanted to, I really did, I-I’m sorry.”

He coughed again, more blood coming up through his throat, mixing with the tears that already stained his face.

“This isn’t-this isn’t your fault either, ok? Don’t blame yourself for this, this one’s on me. Please don’t be too upset, I don’t-I don’t want to think about you being upset over this. I-” he hesitated for a second, “I love you, Zoe. Stay safe for me, _please._ Oh, and, uh, I hate to put this on you, but maybe try to find somewhere safe to hide Nari? I’d rather you didn’t have to deal with that, but it doesn’t look like there’s another choice, love.”

The wizard gritted his teeth as another shock of pain cut through him. His voice now a whisper, he spoke one more time.

“I’m sorry, Zoe, I’m sorry. It was nice to hear your voice for what I'm going to assume is the last time. I love you. Goodbye.”

He hung up the phone, the screen of it cracked and now, smeared with blood. His blood.

Dying was not a fun activity. Trust Douxie on that, he’d done it once before, and he felt like he would again, this time with more permanent results. 

Douxie wasn’t exactly jazzed to die. Maybe at a different time, somewhere in the past, he would have been okay with this. But this was now, and that was then, and he wasn’t dying then, he was dying now. And he wasn’t as okay with it as he thought he’d be.

The more he thought about it, the less okay he became. 

He had more to live for now than he had in centuries. His friends, Nari, Archie (of course) and Zoe. Oh, god, Zoe.

He felt guilty calling her in such a state, but he had to make sure Nari and Archie would be okay, and there wasn’t anyone else he trusted more. Besides, he’d needed to say goodbye anyway.

Douxie shook more as an almost familiar pain ran through him again. He couldn’t feel his legs. He couldn’t feel anything. 

So, this was it, huh? The end of Hisirdoux Casperan, who lived and died pretty much unknown. It sounded grim, but there wasn’t much that could be done about it now. Or ever. Douxie didn’t mind going out unknown. Or maybe he did? He couldn’t really think straight anymore, he was just so tired.

All he wanted was some sleep, so he let his eyes close, even though some part of him screamed to keep them open.

The only real, coherent thoughts in his head were of Zoe, Archie and Merlin. He was going to miss his friends and go out like his mentor. He wasn’t sure he wanted that, to crumble away to nothing leaving behind a grimoire that was more song lyrics than spells.

No, he was sure he didn’t want that.

But it was getting late, and he was tired, and sleep felt nice.

He heard one thing before he left. He recognized the voice.

“Oh, you fucking bastard! You’d better not die on me! Not again!”

Oh, shit. Zoe.

He didn’t want her to see him like this, but

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we went from 0 to 100 real quick, like damn


	10. Day 11, 12, 13 - Reader | Crying, Drowning, Breaking Down, and Swapping Clothes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares aren’t fun and they ruin your nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Self-sacrifice, graphic description of a stabbing, death, suicide? evil douxie but it’s in a nightmare, psychological torture (i think,) super angsty and then super fluffy. this one also works for day 11 of douxtober
> 
> (whumptober prompts: defiance, struggling, crying, broken down, drowning)  
> (douxober prompts: clothing swap)

Yeah, sex is cool, but have you ever taken a nap? 

I have. Naps are great. They’re one of the best things life has to offer, to be honest. Another best thing was your lovely wizard boyf, Hisirdoux Casperan, who was in another room at the moment. You weren’t always jazzed about waking up, but when it was him waking you, you didn’t mind so much.

“Hey baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabe?”

“Yes, love?”

“I’m gonna take a nap, can you wake me up in, like, an hour?”

“Sure thing, darling.”

“Thank you!”

“No problem.”

And so you burritoed yourself in a soft blanket and took a nap. It was what you deserved.

Though you didn't deserve what came next.

You were back there, in the forest, but this time you were alone with the exception of Douxie’s lifeless body which was on the ground before you.

“Douxie?” your voice was distorted as if you were speaking underwater. And in fact, you might have been. The air here, if it could be called that, was thick and heavy, making it hard to breathe. Whatever it was filled your lungs, making it feel like you were drowning above water.

“DOUXIE!”

You screamed, but nothing happened. He didn’t move. You knew he wouldn’t. You’d been here before, not long ago, when his body had fallen from the sky after that fight with the arcane order. When he’d died in front of you and left you all behind. He came back a few moments later, but you didn’t remember that now. You didn’t remember anything except what came before the fall. The rest was a blur. Everything was a blur.

You called his name over and over again, screaming for him to wake up, begging for him to come back to you. He didn’t do either of those things. You tried to go to him. You tried everything you could to get to his side, struggling to move until you found yourself sobbing out of desperation and grief. But you couldn’t move anything. You could only break down where you stood. So you did, shutting your eyes and letting yourself cry.

And then it got worse.

“This is your fault.”

His voice was raspy, lower than usual and it echoed the same way yours did, but there was no denying that it was him.

You looked up and Douxie’s head was turned towards you, eyes shining bright blue. If it hadn’t been this exact situation, you would have remembered the time you called him Sans because of the eye thing and laughed. But now he was un-dead and staring right through your soul.

“You could have saved me. Why didn’t you?”

More tears came to your eyes. His voice was angry, full of hate, and you felt like you deserved that. You didn’t, but feelings are feelings.

“I don’t-I don’t know, I’m sorry, Douxie, I’m sorry.”

He scoffed, “If you were sorry you would have done something. If you loved me you would have saved my life, whatever it cost you.”

You brought your hands over your mouth, trying to keep in another sob, “I know, I’m sorry.”

He scoffed again, a smile twisting his features. Normally, you loved his smile. It brought light into your life and made you feel all sorts of good emotions, but this? This cruel grin on the face of the man that you loved? This broke you.

“Douxie, I’m sorry, I-”

“You know what you have to do.”

You froze for a moment, your breath stopping just for a second. Your hands shook as you brought them away from your face. 

You vaguely knew what he was talking about. There was a legend among wizards. Stories were told of a spell that allowed magic users to bring their loved ones back from the dead at the cost of their own life.

Your Douxie, the one who was not a manifestation of your guilt, would never let you use that particular enchantment, especially not on him. He loved you too much to let you sacrifice yourself to save him, and he wasn’t sure he’d even want to live in a world where you had. He loved you too much to lose you. Douxie would never blame you for his brief death either. He could never hurt you or hate you, or torture you like this. Your Douxie wanted you to be safe and happy. Nightmare Douxie did not care about that. He didn’t care what your Douxie wanted. This manifestation of guilt just wanted you to end your life.

“I-”

“Do it, (Y/N). You love me, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Your voice shook with your hands. You knew what you had to do.

A small blade manifested itself in your hands. You would need it for the spell. You looked at the silver knife resting in your palms. It was beautiful, intricately designed with small metal vines creeping up the handle. A green gem was set in the hilt. You looked up from the emerald tones of the gem to find the bright endless blue of Nightmare Douxie’s eyes. But they weren’t where they were a moment ago. They were right in front of you now, attached to the wizard you loved.

“Do it, darling. Bring me back.” 

You loved it when Douxie called you darling, but now his voice mocked you. It stabbed you in the heart and twisted, which, funnily enough, was what the blade in your hands was supposed to do.

“Ok,” you whispered, closing your eyes and bringing the blade’s point to rest above your heart. Your hands were still shaking, and your breath was coming faster and faster. You tightened your grip on the blade as tears fell from your eyes.

“I love you, Douxie.” while that sentiment was technically addressed to your Douxie, it was your nightmare that responded. 

You felt his arms wrap around you from behind, his hands wrapping around yours at their spot on the blade. The twisted vision kissed your neck before speaking again, his lips next to your ear, “I know, darling.”

His hands drove yours forward, pushing the knife into your chest. If you had been in charge, it would have been one quick motion, a fast death for your sacrifice. But you weren’t in charge. Your nightmare was.

You couldn’t keep from screaming as he stabbed you, his movements agonizingly slow. You could feel your flesh and muscle tear around the metal, the heat of the blood coursing down your chest and rising in your throat. More tears streamed down your face, and you could almost swear that Nightmare Douxie was laughing. But there was another noise. Someone was calling your name.

“(Y/N)!? (Y/N), wake up, darling, please!”

Wait a fuck, that was  _ your _ Douxie. The one whose voice curled warmly around the words he spoke, fixing your broken heart from far away. The one who loved you, and who you loved.

“Don’t listen to him,  _ darling _ . Keep dying for me.”

You gritted your teeth and pulled out the blade, fighting off your nightmare, “No.”

You coughed and spit out blood as you dragged the knife out from your chest, the dark red of your blood staining the silver and the skin of your hands, “And fuck you.”

The nightmare screamed in defeat as you opened your eyes.

“(Y/N)! (Y/N), are you alright, love? You were thrashing around and screaming, and I-” your wizard stopped his rambling when he noticed the fresh tears on your face, “(Y/N)?”

Without another word, you jumped into his arms and buried your face in his chest, once again sobbing. Quietly, you apologized, and then you did it again and again until the only thing Douxie heard other than your sobs were the words, “I’m sorry.”

“Oh,” he said, a little surprised, but starting to understand exactly what was going on here. He wrapped his arms around you, running them up and down your back as he rested his chin on the top of your head.

“It’s alright darling, it’s okay, you’re okay. You’re safe, I won’t let anything hurt you, I promise.”

“But what if I hurt you?” your voice was muffled by his chest, but he still heard you.

“(Y/N), you could never hurt me.”

“But I did, I let you die and I-” you clung to him harder, “I didn’t bring you back, and I-”

“Hey, hey, hey, love, it’s alright. I’m back now, I wasn’t gone long. I’m alive again, and I’m here with you. It’s okay, darling, you’re okay.”

He brought you closer to him, and in doing so, noticed how cold your skin was. He ran his hands up and down for a moment before removing his hoodie and wrapping it around your shoulders.

“There, you should warm up a bit now. Is that better?”

You nodded before looking into his eyes. They were hazel again, the same shade that you loved and trusted. Your gaze moved down to his lips, and you didn’t even think before you moved.

You threw your arms around his neck, kissing him hard, desperate for him. He froze for a second, once again a little surprised before kidding you back. His hands came to rest on your hips before they moved up slightly, his fingers sliding beneath the hem of your shirt. His hands were cold. The temperature helped you ground yourself. You moved your hands from his neck to hold his face and run through his hair. He gasped slightly, straining for your touch as much as you strained for his.

You broke the kiss for a moment to whisper a few ‘I love you’s’ before your lips were on his again. His hands moved further up your body, grazing over your ribs. The cold of his hands made you bite your lip, or at least what you thought was your lip, it may have been his.

He smiled into the kiss before pulling back and running his hands over your arms again, “You’re still cold. Let me make you some tea, darling, I’ll be right back-”

“No!” you cried out, grabbing his wrist as he moved to stand, “Don’t leave me, please.”

While he was a bit taken aback by the desperation in your voice, Douxie figured whatever nightmare made you scream like that had shaken you pretty badly, and he understood why you wouldn’t want to be alone.

“Ok,” he said, placing one arm behind your back and another under your knees, lifting you up and out of bed, “I’m still making you tea though.”

You were shocked for a second, not expecting to get picked up. You weren’t about to complain though. In fact, you laughed a little, wrapping your arms around his neck again and resting your head on his chest as he carried you to the kitchen. The sound of his heartbeat eased your mind, allowing you to stop crying, finally.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, (Y/N) my dear.”

Upon reaching the kitchen, Douxie placed you on the counter, because chairs are for wimps. He turned and got out the kettle, starting to make tea.

“So,” he said, as he moved about the kitchen, “Do you want to talk about it?”

You hummed for a second before you answered, “Not right now. All you need to know is that it was bad. Worse than it usually is.”

“I’m sorry, darling.” he made his way to the counter, giving you a quick kiss before resuming his tea making activities.

“It’s okay. It isn’t your fault.”

It was at this time when Archie and Nari wandered into the kitchen from wherever they had been before. They jumped on the counter with you, one on each side. Archie laid down there, resting his head on your thigh and purring.

“Hello, dear (Y/N).” 

“Hey, guys!”

Nari cautiously put her hand over yours, “Are you alright? I sensed a great pain in you only moments ago.”

You looked at the small forest spirit for a moment. Her huge eyes were full of concern. Your gaze moved from Nari to Archie, who was purring as hard as he could, purrhaps trying to comfort you in his own way. From the familiar, you looked to Douxie, who was watching you, his eyes also full of concern. That and love, for you and your little found family.

“I’m much better now, Nari. Thank you for asking, hon.”

She patted your hand and nodded, satisfied with your care. And you were satisfied too, even more so when Douxie passed you your cup of tea and sat next to you, forcing Archie to lie across your laps. Your small group drew closer together, and you finally felt warm. You felt safe.

As you finished your tea, Nari and Archie wandered off, probably to find a sunny spot to chill in. Douxie turned back to you, taking your empty mug and putting it in the sink.

“You didn’t get an hour by the way.”

“What?”

“You didn’t sleep for an hour.”

“Oh. Well, that doesn’t matter too much-”

“Nonsense. You deserve a good nap.”

You smirked, “Only if you stay with me.”

“I can manage that.”

You laughed as he picked you up again, carrying you off to the bedroom, “I love you.”

“I love you too, my darling.”


	11. Day 15, 16, 17, 18 - Reader and Douxie | Hallucinations, Paranoia, Panic Attacks and Possession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A second part in the nightmare Douxie saga! this is what follows days 11, 12 and 13, so go read those first lol. applies to the days listed above and the same days for douxtober

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Torture, threats, demons, possession, the demon is a mega asshole tbh
> 
> (whumptober prompts: possession, hallucinations, paranoia, panic attacks)  
> (douxtober prompts: arcane order, Archie, fight)

Yeah, naps are cool, but sometimes they lead to nightmares that mess you up for weeks and eventually possess your boyfriend.

It had been weeks since the first nightmare. There were others that followed it, but none of them ever matched the intensity of the first. After the first, it was always as if you were experiencing a memory rather than a dream. Whatever it was, the blue eyes that belonged to the man in your nightmares haunted you through sleepless nights and into the waking world.

You saw him everywhere. You’d walk into the kitchen or the bedroom, and there he was, soulless eyes staring through you before the hallucination disappeared. What was worse was when it wasn’t a vision. There were times when you passed by Douxie, your Douxie, and you’d think for a second that his eyes were glowing blue. There were moments where the lack of sleep caught up to you and instead of your wizard's voice, you heard the sinister tones of the monster that you’d created.

And Douxie noticed.

How could he not? How could anyone not take notice when you shook slightly upon seeing him, when you dropped bowls and plates, and flinched away when he moved too fast. It was clear to see that some part of you was scared. Douxie didn’t blame you for that. No one did. You told the wizard about your nightmare, getting out as much as you could before you shut down, becoming suddenly silent. Archie and Nari weren’t sure what happened, exactly, but they knew it had shaken you. You all knew that this nightmare was something else on another level. It had to be to leave you scared of the man you loved, scared for him and absolutely terrified of yourself. And the pure terror you felt didn’t just hurt you. 

Nari could sense your fear and the strange darkness that followed you around, which was an unpleasant experience for the demigod. Your paranoia affected her, and she felt it too, peering around corners and double-checking rooms before she went anywhere, even within the apartment. 

Archie had noticed the quiet distance between you and the wizard, and it set him on edge. If one thing in his life had been consistent, it was you and Douxie, but now something was wrong. Something was broken, but the familiar couldn’t place what it was.

Douxie was, of course, destroyed by all of this. He loved you so much, and seeing you afraid of him was not a pleasant feeling. In fact, it was something he’d been actively trying to avoid. After the battle with the arcane order, he’d assumed things would be different. That you’d have the sense to fear someone who could take on two ancient primordial beings and survive. It wasn’t like he would do anything to hurt you. Hell, he wasn’t sure if he was physically capable of causing you harm, but still, caution was expected. You showed none of that. You hadn’t left his side since he came back to life. You weren’t afraid of him, even though in theory, he could destroy you and all of your friends. Of course, you weren’t afraid, this was Douxie. Your Douxie, who lived to keep the people around him safe, who took on the responsibility of protecting Nari with no hesitation, who had  _ literally died for you before. _ Nope, you were not afraid of Douxie.

Not until now, anyway.

And it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t your fault either, it was just that nightmare… something about it stuck with you.

And it was getting worse.

It wasn’t just broken glass and flinching anymore. You were jumping away from loud noises, staring into space, staying up through the night to keep the memories away and running your fingers over your heart trying to find a non-existent scar. You retreated into yourself more every damn day, and that scared you and everyone you lived with. 

At some point, enough was enough. 

You were upset and hurting, your friends were concerned for you and your health, and Douxie was not going to take any more of this. He loved you, and he wanted you to feel safe, and to see you smile again. He needed to figure out exactly what you saw. He had to know what you had seen, what had shaken you so badly. 

So he made a plan. 

He waited for you to leave the apartment, making sure Nari went with you. That way, you could protect each other, and if things went badly with his plan you’d both be safe.

Next, he cracked open one of the old spell books that sat around your apartment. This one used to be Merlin’s. It had the spell he needed.

And then, after telling Archie to watch the apartment, Douxie cast the enchantment and took a nap.

//

The first thing Douxie noticed was that he couldn’t move.

He was trapped inside of himself, and something else was controlling him.

That wasn’t good.

And then he heard your voice, which, in any other case, would have made the situation much better, but here it made things worse. You sounded scared. Scared, and sad, and distorted. He couldn’t see you, though. His eyes were closed, and he couldn’t open them. But he could hear you. You were calling his name, screaming it, and then your cries dissolved into sobs. 

He wanted to open his eyes. To see you, to comfort you, to tell you that everything was going to be okay. He wanted to reach out to you through this nightmare and protect you from it. You were calling his name and he wanted to call back.

So he tried.

But the words that came out were not his.

“This is all your fault.”

The wizard’s blood ran cold. 

That was his voice, yes, but those weren’t his words.

And with that, his eyes opened. Everything was tinted with blue, but he could see his surroundings well enough. He knew this place. It was just outside of Arcadia, this was where… This was where your nightmare took place. And this was where he died. 

And there you were.

Your face was stained with tears, your hands shaking, and your eyes wide. You were looking down at him, as if he were lying there, dead again. Right then, things started to click.

Despite this, Douxie tried reaching out to you again. He said your name, but he heard nothing other than a voice, his voice hissing, “You could have saved me. Why didn’t you?”

No, that wasn’t true, and Douxie wanted to scream that to you, to make sure you knew that you’d done everything right that night, and what happened wasn’t your fault.

The wizard felt heavy with guilt as more tears came to your eyes. He couldn’t blame you for that. Between the guilt you put on yourself and the hate in the voice that came out of him, it would have been a little weird if you hadn’t gotten emotional.

“I don’t-I don’t know, I’m sorry, Douxie, I’m sorry.”

And now you were apologizing for something that wasn’t even remotely your fault. Douxie swore right then and there that he would talk to you about this, that he would find some way to convince you that his temporary death wasn’t your fault. For now, though, he was trapped here, listening to lies leave his body without his consent.

“If you were sorry you would have done something. If you loved me you would have saved my life, whatever it cost you.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

No, you should not know that that was false, and it was thoroughly upsetting to Douxie that you could believe any of this for even a moment.

He felt a grin twist across his face as you apologized to him again, “You know what you have to do.”

That caught your wizard off guard. He knew that your nightmare consisted of him being dead. He figured that he was trapped inside that dead version of himself. He knew that the dead man in your nightmares spoke to you, and now he could figure out what exactly he talked to you about. 

Douxie knew about the legends. The stories were told of a spell that allowed magic users to bring their loved ones back from the dead at the cost of their own life. It was the last thing he wanted on your mind. If he had to live in a world without you, in a world where you had given up your life to save his, he wouldn’t be able to take it. Just the thought of it killed him inside.

So when a calm expression took over your features, Douxie panicked. He tried to scream, to tell you not to do this, but all that he could say was, “Do it, (Y/N). You love me, don’t you?”

It broke his heart that you said yes.

A blade manifested itself in your hands, shining silver with a green gem in the hilt. Douxie wanted to die. He hated this, perhaps more than anything else he’d ever had to do. True, he knew you survived this, but that didn’t make this torture any more enjoyable.

And then it got worse!

He appeared right in front of you, a bit confused as to how that happened, but not too preoccupied with it. 

“Do it, darling. Bring me back.” 

“Ok.”

Your voice was a whisper and yet it still held so much power over him. If he were in control of himself, Douxie probably would have cried. Scratch that, he would have been crying for a while at this point. He hated to see you hurting, and he hated hurting you. For a moment he wondered if the spell had gone wrong, killing him and sending him to hell. He wasn’t sure that was possible, but this felt like something that even the worst demons couldn’t dream of, so maybe it was.

You brought the blade to your chest, a movement intended to kill you killing him instead. Metaphorically. He was still alive and forced to suffer through this torment.

“I love you, Douxie.” 

_ “I love you, too.” _

But he didn’t say that. Instead, his arms wrapped around you as he moved behind your body against his will. His hands covered yours where they rested on the hilt of the blade. With all of his strength, Douxie tried to keep the knife from your heart, but neither of you had control. He kissed your neck and told you he knew that you loved him before the metal entered your chest.

Your scream broke your wizard. He would have screamed too if he had control, but he didn’t. Neither of you did.

He heard his voice laughing, and he wanted to be sick. If he thought he knew self-loathing before, this would unlock a whole new level.

Douxie couldn’t stand this. The thought, no, the  _ feeling _ of losing you as you struggled in his arms was more than enough to make him want to use the blade in your hands on himself.

But you didn’t die.

He knew that, and as some other version of himself called your name, you learned it.

“Don’t listen to him,  _ darling _ ,” Douxie said, disgusted with his own voice for the thousandth time in this nightmare, “Keep dying for me.”

“No.”

And there you were, the badass that he fell in love with. You, pulling yourself out from this hell while Douxie, who was supposed to protect you, by the way, stood around uselessly. Yep, a new level of self-loathing, that’s gonna be fun to deal with.

But that didn’t matter at the moment. Pride made itself at home in Douxie’s heart as he watched and felt his kick-ass significant-other fight their way out of this mess, pulling the knife from their chest like a sword from a stone. 

You were covered in blood, and coughing up more, and yet, you were still the most beautiful being Douxie had ever seen.

“And fuck you.”

And as you escaped, Douxie laughed. The voice screamed, but he didn’t care. You were amazing, and he loved you so much.

The wizard started to care, however, when the voice started to laugh.

** “Well, they’re quite the spark plug, aren’t they? Maybe not the most powerful on their own, but wow, what a creature!” **

Douxie was confused to the point of swearing before whatever it was that had controlled him and taken his voice and released him. Now he was face to face with a shadow covered version of himself, face to face with the thing that tortured you.

** “And not to mention easy on the eyes. Maybe if your death is painful enough I can keep them around on the side…” **

“What?”

** “I imagine they’d-” **

“Hey!”

** “No, no, you’re right, the Order would never let me keep such an excitable pet. Shame. I’ll have to kill them, too. Oh well, Lord knows I’ll have fun doing it.” **

“You won’t touch them.” Douxie’s voice shook with a mix of frustration, anger and fear. He had no clue  _ what _ this thing was, but there was no way he would let it hurt you.

** “Oh ho ho! So the rumours are true!” ** The thing disappeared and reappeared behind the wizard, whispering directly into his ear,  ** “You are  _ weak _ with love for the  _ witch _ .” **

Douxie tried to speak, but the demon disappeared again. This time when it reappeared it grabbed his throat, pinning him to the ground and choking him.

** “That makes this much more interesting,” __ ** its grip became tighter,  ** “I can’t wait to watch you kill them.” **

The wizard struggled against the shadow’s grip as it continued to monologue. His usual tricks weren’t working, and he was quickly running out of air.

** “So, what shall we do to them,  _ Wizard? _ We can’t let the death be too quick, and we want to leave a mess for the Forest Child and your familiar, don’t we?” **

Douxie coughed, and the demon eased up on the wizard’s throat, just enough to let him speak.

“Burn. In. Hell.”

** “Well, there’s no need to be rude,” ** the thing seemed unimpressed, throwing Douxie into a nearby tree  ** “I have to punish you for that now.” **

As the demon walked towards Douxie, it began to twitch. The wizard watched as the form which once mirrored his own bent and twisted into a gruesome, mangled thing. Its claws tore up the ground as it came forward. Its limbs pointed the wrong way, and its face no longer resembled anything that could even be considered a face. The whole body leaked blood and gore, its ribs were prominent and stuck out at odd angles. It was not pleasant to look at.

The horror of it was actually quite distracting, and Douxie didn’t even notice how close the thing was until its claws were pressed against his skin, threatening to tear out his throat. The smell of it was disgusting, a mix of rotting meat and blood. Its breathing sounded laboured, but again, that could have been laughing. 

The monster leaned close to Douxie, whispering to him before it went in for the kill,  ** “I think I’ll punish that pretty little witch of yours, too. And I won’t stop there. I’ll get your familiar, and your friends, and the forest spirit. True, the Order wants her back but,” __ ** it laughed,  ** “I don’t really care. With the power I take from them, I’ll be  _ much  _ stronger than the Order.” **

It drew its arm back preparing to strike,  ** “I’ll destroy everything you love, and I’ll make you watch.” **

Douxie coughed, still recovering from being choked, “You won’t get away with that. You aren’t strong enough.”

** “Do you really think so?” ** the thing laughed again after asking its question, digging its claws into the wizard’s side, forcing a cry from his already damaged throat,  ** “Maybe not on my own. But there are other options. Your witch, for example, could give me so much power.” **

“What?”

** “Don’t think I won’t use their magic _. _ They won’t be powerful enough to stop me, and neither will you! The process has already started, and neither of you even noticed.” **

Douxie remembered everything from the past few weeks. How your hands shook, how you didn’t sleep. The demon had been draining you and no one had noticed.

** “And you know I won’t stop there. I’ll take everything I can until there’s nothing left. There’s only one way to gain  _ actual  _ power in this world,  _ boy _ . Stealing and sacrifice,” __ ** it leaned close to Douxie’s ear again, making him gag,  ** “My wife learned that the hard way. Now it’s __ your witch’s __ turn.” **

“I won’t let you do this. Not to any of them.” 

** “Ohhhh,” ** the demon leaned closer, now digging its claws into Douxie’s face,  ** “You think you have a choice,” ** it moved its hand down to the wizard’s chest, dragging its claws across his torso. It laughed while he screamed.

** “You never know, Wizard, you might even like it. Power is a beautiful thing, and you have  _ so much of it _ . If you just used a little bit of that-that power, you would be unstoppable,” ** it withdrew its claws, pulling them away from Douxie’s bloodied form,  ** “Join me. Join the Order. Leave those you’ve known behind, and you can have a place in the new world.” **

“No.”

The beast moved back for a moment, clearly surprised by this answer. That’s what happens when you don’t realize that there are motivations other than “Power.”

** “Fine. Your death will be more painful than _ anything any other being has experienced before- _ ” **

“Do you promise?”

The demon growled, which was a god awful noise that fell somewhere between nails on a chalkboard and the screech of metal rubbing against most other materials. It was tired of this, and it wanted to start the killing.

** “The witch dies first.”  **

“Get-” Douxie coughed again, “Some new material.”

The shadow screamed now, which was worse than the growl. The thing folded in on itself, shadows wrapping around its form, transforming it into a translucent fluid thing. It rose in the air for a moment before slamming itself into the wizard, entering the wounds made previously by the demon’s claws, and once again, Douxie was forced to take a backseat.

//

You and Nari were just getting home when you heard general chaos coming from your apartment. That was never a good sign, usually, you were the one causing problems. Something was very wrong here and you had no time for keys or caution.

So, yeah. You kicked down your door.

You and Nari ran inside to find Douxie covered in blood and screaming in his sleep while Archie tried to wake him up.

“Arch! What the hell happened!? What’s going on!?”

“Uh, well, I can explain-”

Nari tugged at your sleeve, taking a step backwards and shrinking into herself, “There is a dark presence here…”

You took a moment, freezing where you stood. You felt your blood turn to ice as you felt exactly what Nari was talking about. The feeling made you sick, and it was clear to you that the dark entity that had invaded your home was the same that had invaded your nightmares.

“Shit. Both of you, go, get help.”

“(Y/N), are you sure you can-”

“It doesn’t matter, just go!”

Though they seemed hesitant, the familiar and the demigod listened to you, vacating the apartment and leaving you with your wizard.

You approached him cautiously. He had stopped moving and screaming after you came in, but he was still bleeding, which was not great.

“Douxie?”

There was no response.

You ventured closer until you were standing next to him, checking to see if he was breathing. He was. The rise and fall of his chest reassured you a little, but not much. You felt yourself shaking as you moved your hand over his throat, trying to find a pulse.

“You’re-you’re gonna stain the bedsheets, babe,” you joked, your voice trembling with your hands, “There’s-there’s so much blood-”

And you found the reason for that when your fingers found the beat of his pulse. It was faster than you’d expected. Too fast. At this rate he shouldn’t have been alive, he shouldn’t-

He shouldn’t have been able to grab your hand, to sit up and look you in the eyes and cough out a warning.

“(Y/N), you need to run.”

“What? No, I’m not leaving you like this!”

“That-” he was clearly struggling and it was breaking your heart, “That doesn’t matter right now. None of it matters, you need to go!”

“Why!?” you were upset and confused, and now tears were coming to your eyes. This would have distressed Douxie had he not been struggling to keep control.

“I’m sorry. I love you.”

His eyes closed, and he stopped moving. You moved the hand not in his grasp to check his pulse, finding one, though it was weak. Your hand moved from his neck to his cheek, tracing a cut on the side of his face before moving to his jawline, blood following your fingertips. You just sat there for a second, taking in every part of his face.

“Douxie?”

No response.

“DOUXIE!?” 

You brought your hands back to your body, covering your mouth as the tears began to fall. You lost him. Again. After he’d promised that he would stay with you, after he assured you he wouldn’t leave you alone.

You slid off the bed, so consumed by your grief that you didn’t notice when Douxie’s eyes opened, revealing a blue glow instead of the hazel you were used to.

“Hello there,  **_ darling.” _ **

You spun around, your eyes meeting with blue and sending you straight into a panic. You moved frantically, trying to get away from the demon you knew.

“No, no, no, no, this isn’t real, this can’t be happening-”

“But it is! And may I just say that it is so good to see you again.”

“Shut up!”

“Mmm, no, I don’t think I will.”

You continued to move away, trying to sort out a plan. Your attempts were halted, however, when the nightmare in your apartment mentioned your boyfriend’s name.

“He’s a good kid, that wizard of yours. Douxie, isn’t it? He was searching for answers, trying to find out what happened to you. He found me instead, obviously, but it was an honourable attempt.”

You kept moving until your back hit a wall.

“He loves you so much, do you know that? He’s willing to give up anything for you. It’s kind of sad if you ask me. It makes him weak!”

He yelled the last word, striking at your face. You dodged at the last second, narrowly avoiding his fist.

You moved away into the kitchen, and he followed you, continuing to monologue.

“He has so much power! I can feel it coursing through him! But he doesn’t use it!” he attacked you again, this time with magic. You threw up a spell of your own to deflect it.

“Because he wants to protect you-” he hissed, and this time his strike landed, knocking you to the ground. You groaned as the demon advanced, grabbing your throat and lifting you in the air.

“He’s still in here, you know. He hates what I’m doing but-” he tightened his grip, “That just makes it more fun.”

“You disgust me,” you choked out, kicking the demon in the chest. You caught him off guard, knocking him backwards and forcing him to release his hold on your neck.

You crawled away and the monster did the same, both of you taking a second to recover.

“You said Douxie’s still in there?” your voice was rough from the attempted choking, but sass remained intact, “Well, in that case, I’m sorry babe. It’s not you, it’s the demon.”

Said demon did not take your sarcasm well. He stood, crossed the room and kicked you in the ribs.

“You will suffer greatly. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, what else is new?”

He growled, putting his hands around your throat again, wasting no time in choking you to unconsciousness. 

After your eyes closed, the demon took a second, looking down at you. In a part of its mind, it could hear Douxie screaming for you to wake up.

** “This,” ** it said,  ** “Is where the fun begins.” **


	12. Day 19 - Reader | Broken Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 3! Torture!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Torture, threats, demons, possession, the demon is a mega asshole still

Nari was not having a good time right now. Her guardians, her protectors were dealing with some massive evil presence, and there wasn’t much she could do other than look for help with Archie.

Archie was also not having fun. He was supposed to protect Douxie, to look out for him and make sure he was safe. But now? Now Douxie was anything but safe. It was a new kind of horror, the cat-dragon decided, to watch his oldest friend get tortured in his sleep; to watch his skin tear on its own and the blood stain the sheets. And then he had to leave him. He had to leave his wizard, his boy, who he had watched over for almost a thousand years, to an uncertain fate. He trusted you, of course, but this thing, this darkness that haunted you was a force to be reckoned with. He didn’t want either of you to be hurt more than you already had been.

The two of them ran for a while until they found a payphone, which is literally the luckiest anyone ever gets in this story because those things are almost extinct, and called for help. After that, all they could do was wait.

//

You were not doing any better.

You woke up restrained, tied to a kitchen chair with bonds that glowed the same blue as the demon’s eyes. While this wasn’t the first time this had happened, it was the first time the magic burned. Wherever it touched your skin an unfamiliar ache took hold. That was new, it was different, and it hurt enough to make you wince. The demon was waiting for that. Now that you were awake, the fun could begin.

“Good morning, darling.”

You groaned a little bit, not wanting to deal with this asshole. Unfortunately, you had no choice in that matter.

“What’s the matter? Uncomfortable?”

“Eat a dick.”

The thing snarled, and the expression looked uncanny on your wizard’s face. It was just so unlike him, and that reminder that he was trapped in there hurt you more than anything this demon could do. That didn’t mean that the demon wouldn’t try.

It grabbed your face, jerking your head to face him, “Don’t get smart, now. You don’t want poor Douxie to suffer any more than he has to, do you?”

You bit back a string of insults while trying to escape from the demon’s grasp. That wasn’t going super well, and it only made the thing tighten his grip.

“Well?”

“Well, what?” you spat, words laced with venom. The demon was unaffected.

“Do you want him to suffer?”

You stopped struggling and stared at the thing that controlled your boyfriend’s body. He couldn’t be serious, could he? Did he actually want you to say it? 

He jerked your face again, pulling it upwards, exposing your neck, “Come on, darling, we don’t have all day. Just say it, yes or no.”

You stayed silent, incredibly wary of why exactly he would want you to say this. In your first nightmare, he kept trying to manipulate you, telling you that if you loved Douxie you would die for him. The situation was too similar for this to be a coincidence.

When you said nothing, the demon sighed, shaking his head. You felt a sharp pain wherever his fingers made contact with your face. Claws, you realized, were extending from his hand, carving into your skin and leaving shallow cuts across your cheek. You gasped, trying to pull back, but that made things worse. Not only did it give the monster’s talons a better chance to tear your skin, but it let you see the awful mix of demon and man that was this thing’s hand. Simply put, it wasn’t Douxie’s. It may have been attached to his body, but these long sharp claws were anything but human.

While you were distracted by that little abomination, the demon drew closer to you. The hand that wasn’t embedded in your face curled around the chair, effectively boxing you in, not that you had anywhere else to go. His figure loomed over you, reminding you that you were completely outmatched magically and physically. You shut your eyes and gritted your teeth as the demon’s lips grazed your ear.

“If you say yes, I’ll let you go.”

Your eyes snapped open, and you turned to face the monster as much as you physically could. Why the hell would he offer that? To torture Douxie, probably, but this was too weird. Before he’d based his attacks on your love for the wizard. Why now, was he trying to get you to betray him? You guessed it was because his identity as a demon had been revealed, forcing him to try another tactic, but that didn’t make too much sense if you thought about it too hard. You knew that he was lying, he would never let you go that easily, the question was why?

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

You remained silent. You weren’t going to say anything to this guy that wasn’t an insult.

“Well, you can't be blamed for that. Here, let me show you,” he removed his claws and his hand from your face, allowing you to move your jaw again. He moved that hand down the length of your body, and as it descended, your bonds loosened a bit and the burning subsided. The demon pulled away from you for a moment, only to lean over your other side and push a strand of your hair back into place. You didn’t make a sound.

“I bet you’re wondering why you get this deal,” he ran a clawless hand down your jawline, bringing it to rest on your chest, the same place he had stabbed you weeks ago. You felt your muscles tense up as he lowered his head to rest on your shoulder.

“It’s because you remind me of my wife. She had the same spark you do. I don’t regret draining her, killing her slowly as I stole her power, but,” you could feel the demon smiling against you, as he paused, letting the threat sink in “There are some things I do miss.”

He kissed your neck, making you want to vomit. You liked it when Douxie kissed you, but even though this was his body, it wasn’t him. You were relieved when the demon stood, taking a few steps away from you. You even relaxed for a second before he pulled out the knife. Silver with a green gem. It was the blade from your nightmares.

“This was hers once. She’d never approve of it being used in this way, but she can’t exactly stop me from where she is, can she?” he came towards you, pushing the point of the blade against your collarbone, “So, what’s your answer, darling? Yes or no?”

You weren’t saying anything.

And it was pissing off the demon.

“Come on, darling, I’m running out of patience.”

Silence. From both of you.

But you noticed his grip tighten around the hilt of the blade, his eye twitched, his jaw clenched. It wouldn’t take much for him to explode.

It took nothing, actually.

** “SAY IT!”  ** he screamed, the blade slicing through your skin, small drops of your blood hitting the wall. You said nothing, but you could not hide your smirk. The demon didn’t like that. He placed the knife against your skin again, getting in your face and growling as he spoke, “Say. It.”

You smiled then. This may have been a powerful demon possessing your even more powerful boyfriend, but you were the one in control right now. You said nothing.

The monster’s face went blank, and you smirked, even as he drove his blade into your chest. It was enough to hurt, but not to kill.

He waited for you to say something, anything, but you just sat there, grinning. He moved his blade down to rest against your ribs, demanding that you answer his question once again. You refused, and the knife ran against your skin, breaking it and drawing blood.

The process repeated a few more times, but you never answered. At this point, it had moved beyond refusing to respond out of fear. If he wanted to manipulate you, the time had passed. This was a game of defiance now, and answering meant surrender. Answering meant death.

You could tell the demon was growing tired of this game. Eventually, he threw the knife down and just started hitting you. When he finished that, you were laughing. Maybe this was just your way of avoiding the trauma that you would have to deal with eventually. Maybe it was your way of letting Douxie know you were still there. Maybe you had gone insane. Either way, the monster was now slumped over your counter, screaming out of frustration.

Once your laughter had subsided, you leaned back still grinning, “You ruined my shirt. Just, FYI.”

With a growl, the demon flew across the room, grabbing your throat again, not hesitating to squeeze this time,  ** “You vile little-” **

He cut himself off, letting go of your neck and stepping back. You were already concerned, but the smile that spread across his face really set you on edge.

“Well, you won’t answer me, and you clearly don’t care about your own life,” he picked up the knife, “but maybe, you’ll care about him?”

He brought the blade over his wrist, Douxie’s wrist. You started to struggle again, panic returning and adrenaline running through your veins. The demon pushed the point of the knife through his skin, not far enough to cause any lasting damage, but more than enough to scare you.

“What’ll it be, love?”

“I-”

“Answer or he dies!”

“Okay, stop!” you cried, straining against the magic keeping you in place, “Stop it, please, I’ll answer, just don’t hurt him!”

He dropped the knife, grinning at you, “That’s all I needed to hear, darling. Now, tell me.”

You waited until he was right in front of you. You had never seen Douxie look so smug. True, this wasn’t actually him, but it was still a weird experience. This entire day had been a weird experience. Your Douxie, the real Douxie, would never hurt you, ever. He would never lay a hand on you, never swat you away or elbow you in the ribs or touch you when you didn’t want to be touched. But today, his body beat the shit out of yours for hours. Fortunately, if you got things your way, that would be over soon. You tried to stay calm as you followed your plan.

First, you looked into the demon’s cold blue eyes.

Next, you let a few tears fall, trying to look as weak and unassuming as possible.

Then, you gave your answer.

“No.”

You waited for the demon’s response. He smiled sadly, shaking his head, “I thought you’d say that.”

He drew closer to you, probably going in for the kill. Whatever, it didn’t matter, what mattered was that he was close enough now for your attack.

Here’s the thing about them bindings. They only last as long as the one doing the binding is focused on them. When the demon had his little meltdown, you were able to free one of your hands. It was only one of four limbs, but it was a good start. You waited until the demon was in punching distance.

And then you just fuckin punched him.

It felt great.

Not physically, because, y’ know, hours of torture tend to make you feel like shit, but still, it felt nice. 

While the demon took a second to regain his bearings, you made quick work of your other bonds, freeing yourself quickly and getting to your feet. You almost fell as soon as you stood, but shit, torture will do that to you, and you could deal with it later. You needed to run first. 

So you did. You grabbed the nearest weapon and bolted, not out of the apartment, but into your bedroom. Sure, the demon beat you and Douxie before because you were in his domain, but now you were in your apartment. It was over for him. You had the high ground.

Thinking fast, you hid in the closet preparing your weapon, which was an unopened can of something. Maybe it wasn’t great for melee purposes, but it would make one hell of a projectile. You waited in the dark until you heard the demon outside. You didn’t wait anymore after that.

You kicked down the closet door and yeeted the can at your boyfriend’s head. It was a direct hit! With a grin, you ran at the demon, tackling it to the ground and rolling away. While it tried to get up, you slammed your fist into the ground, your magic forming a sigil on the ground and trapping the demon inside.

You stood up, breathing heavy but smiling. But you weren’t done yet. You needed to get Douxie back.

“Hey babe, I know you’re in there, and I’m sorry for beating you up.”

The monster growled, lunging towards you only to hit the invisible wall made by your sigil,  ** “SHUT UP.” **

You did not do that. Instead, you kept on talking, “But I need you to come back to me. I know you’ve been fighting him, and I’m sorry I couldn’t help you before, but I can now.”

** “STOP THIS!” **

“Fight him,  _ darling, _ you can come back to me, I know you can.” 

Darling. The word slid off your tongue like you’d been meant to say it all your life. It just felt right. It must have felt right to Douxie too because as the demon screamed, the glow of his eyes faded. Blue turned to hazel, and your boy was back. Behind him, smoke gathered, but you didn’t care. Your mans was no longer possessed. You could not stop the smile on your face as you grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the sigil.

In an instant, his arms were wrapped around you, and yours around him. You buried your face in his chest, letting yourself relax for a second. He was shaking and clinging to you as if he feared he would never hold you again. That was valid. Today was a traumatizing day for everyone.

You brought your forehead to rest against his, placing your hands on his face, tracing his cheekbones with your thumbs. He was crying. So were you.

“Hi,” you whispered.

“Hey.”

You let out a sob, pulling yourself closer to him, “I love you.”

“I love you too, I love you so much,” he said, repeating those words over and over, throwing in apologies pretty frequently. 

** “YOU FOOLS.” **

“Oh great, this guy again.” Your voice was muffled, but Douxie still heard you, smiling despite the situation.

** “YOU  _ WILL _ DIE FOR THIS.” **

“Sure, Jan.” Maybe it was the blood loss, but you had decided to be funny. Also, it pissed off the demon, which was nice.

It growled again and lunged for you, and this time, the sigil flickered and faded, freeing the thing. The monster had to take a second as he hadn’t expected that to work, but it did, and now you were in trouble. Again.

Douxie had no time to deal with your delirious ass. Instead, he picked you up and ran, stashing you in the elevator while he ran up the stairs to the roof. He managed to beat the beast to the there, grabbing you from the elevator and running to the edge of the building. He kept you behind him, trying his best to protect you. The monster burst through the doors, now in its true form.

“(Y/N), I love you.”

“Eh, no, don’t do anything stupid. We’re in this together,” you grabbed his hand, and smiled. Maybe you were about to die, but that wouldn’t stop you from being a cute significant other.

“I love you, too, just by the way.”

Douxie shook his head, but he had no choice but to smile back at you. That’s love children, that’s love.

You stretched out your hand, magic at the ready. Douxie did the same. 

It was time to fight the demon.

It lunged at Douxie first, and he knocked it to the side with a spell. It jumped back up, screeching again. Now that you thought about it, you weren’t sure how your neighbours didn’t hear any of this, but you really didn’t have time to think about it. The demon was coming for you now. You dodged the attack, rolling under the monster and striking upwards. It flew back, nearly falling off the roof, but it pulled itself back up at the last second.

“Hey, babe? If we knock it off the roof, will that kill it?”

“Not sure, we’ll just have to see!”

Douxie attacked now, fighting off the darkness with flashes of blue. You joined him, your magic whipping around the creature and throwing it, where else? Off the roof. Things looked good for a moment. 

Then the thing rose from the ground, knife in hand, starting in its true form and morphing. But it didn’t turn into Douxie. It turned into you.

And  _ then  _ it stabbed Douxie.

_ “NO!” _ the scream tore itself from your throat as you ran at the demon, wrenching the blade from its grip and driving it into the monster’s heart, your heart, over and over again.

When it was dead, your face was wet with tears and blood, both yours and the demon’s. You dropped the knife, covering your mouth and trying to keep in your sobs.

You felt Douxie’s hand on your shoulder, and you let him help you away from the body. Neither of you could get far though. A few minutes later, both of you were on the ground. Your head was on his chest, his arms were around you. From here, you could hear his heartbeat. You wanted to look into his eyes, to make sure they weren’t blue, that this wasn’t a dream, that he was safe and you were safe, and everything was ok.

But his eyes were closed.

You just let your head drop back to his chest, and shut your own eyes.

“We did it, darling,” you whispered, “We’re safe now. You-you were amazing. I’m so sorry, Douxie, I’m sorry about all of this,” you gripped onto his shirt, trying to keep yourself grounded. “I love you, I love you so much. Don’t worry, love, help is-help, help,” your words died in your throat as the world around you went black.

//

Even though you’d passed out, help was, in fact, coming. It just took a while to get there. 

About a minute after you lost consciousness, Nari, Archie, Zoe and Claire burst onto the roof, finding a very dead demon, a dying witch, and an unconscious wizard.

Not a great thing to find tbh.


	13. Day 21, 22, 23 - Reader | pain, painkillers, sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> part 4, Douxie is fuckin sad, but after that there’s fluff. BETA READ BY @furblrwurblr ON TUMBLR THANKS BRO I LOVE U

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hospitals and very brief suicidal thoughts

Douxie woke up in Jim Lake Jr.’s living room, dazed, confused, and concerned for your safety. 

He was alone. Sun was streaming through the windows. Everything was quiet. For a second, he thought he’d died, and for that second, he was relieved. Death meant he wouldn’t have to torture you anymore. But he wasn’t dead. You, on the other hand, were in the process of dying. 

And for Douxie, that _was_ torture. 

And maybe he deserved it. Maybe this was some cosmic punishment for what he did to you, but you? You didn’t deserve this. When he heard that you hadn’t woken up, that you were in a coma in a hospital somewhere, he ran to you. Seeing you asleep hurt more than any stab wound any demon could inflict. 

He stayed by your side, and for every second you stayed sleeping, he wished again that he could take your place. He wished that it was him lying there, motionless and cold. He wished that he’d been the one bleeding out on the roof and fighting a demon alone. He wished he could have saved you from this fate.

And there should have been some way to do that, right? He was the successor to Merlin for _fuck’s sake._ He should have fought harder, broken the demon’s hold, turned the knife on himself, _anything._ He would do anything at all to save you. But he hadn’t. He was weak, and he’d failed you. He couldn’t keep that thought from his mind.

He couldn’t keep the things he’d said out of his mind either. Technically, he was possessed when he said them, but it was his voice, wasn’t it? He remembered the demon speaking through him, every word burning like fire, an unstoppable force that was used to hurt you more.

_“This is all your fault.”_

But it wasn’t your fault. It never was. It was his.

_“You could have saved me. Why didn’t you?”_

You couldn’t have saved him. He’d made up his mind before facing the order and he was okay with his imminent death, but he wasn’t okay with yours. He could have saved you and he didn’t. Why didn't he save you?

_“If you were sorry you would have done something. If you loved me you would have saved my life, whatever it cost you.”_

He should have saved you, he should have saved you, why didn’t he save you?

He knew what he had to do.

He made a deal with himself one night in your hospital room while watching over your sleeping form. It was a silent promise, one that neither you nor anyone else heard, but it was a valid one all the same. 

He swore to himself that if you died, he would complete the ritual. He would trade his life for yours. 

Because you deserved to live. He had tortured you, had broken your trust and led you right to death’s door. You deserved to live. He, on the other hand… It didn’t matter. If you died, it wasn’t like he’d be able to go on, anyway. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing you, of never holding you, or talking to you, or hearing your laugh again. If he lost you, lost your smile, and the way your entire being lit up when you were excited, and the way you could talk for hours about your interests, it would kill him one way or another. It was better to go out bringing you back home. And yes, he’d be leaving you with the responsibility of protecting Nari and taking care of Archie, but he knew you’d be able to manage it. The world needed you. It needed your heart and the spark that lived in your eyes. It needed your passion and your drive, and you could carry on without him. Of that he was certain.

Still, he never left your side. He was at the hospital every day, sometimes sleeping there. Archie came with him most days, sometimes with Nari, or Zoe, or Claire, or whoever else felt up to visiting you and their dying friend. 

And it was your gang of visitors who noticed that Douxie never actually came too close to you. He always stayed near the walls, not daring to approach you. It wasn’t too hard to figure out why. At least for them.

You woke up in a hospital, confused, but not alone.

Douxie was asleep in a chair against the wall. Archie was curled up at the end of your bed. Nari was standing at the window.

You pulled yourself up, wincing at the pain that moving brought. Still, you managed to sit without much difficulty. The room was silent. And that was okay. You shut your eyes, taking in a deep breath. The air smelled like a hospital. But that was okay, too. You were alive. Douxie was alive. And that was all you cared about.

“Good morning, children,” you said, opening your eyes. Your voice was a little rough from not speaking, but hey, at least you could speak.

“(Y/N)!!” both Nari and Archie exclaimed, the latter rushing to your side while the former crawled into your lap.

“So, what’s up, what did I miss?”

“Your soul was so weak! I feared it would leave this world!” the forest spirit said, grabbing one of your hands and bringing it close to her chest.

“You almost died, (Y/N)!”Archie’s stared straight through you and making you feel a little bit guilty.

“Well, I’m afraid you can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“Still, don’t ever do that again.”

You laughed, patting the cat-dragon’s head, “I won’t, I promise.”

“(Y/N)?”

You turned to face the new voice.

“Douxie.”

You couldn’t help but be relieved to see him. Should you have been scared? Maybe. Cautious? Definitely. Traumatized? Most likely! But his eyes weren’t blue, and they weren’t cold, and they weren’t glowing. They were the same warm, welcoming hazel that you’d loved for years. So no, you weren’t afraid. Maybe it was the drugs, or maybe it was the joy of being alive, but you were just happy that his eyes were the ones you knew.

And then he ran out of the room, saying something under his breath about letting everyone know you were awake. And that made you wonder if he was happy to see you. You didn’t think he wanted you dead, but the demon had taken your form to stab him, and he’d gotten possessed to try to help you. No matter anyone’s intentions, you’d hurt him, just as you’d feared.

“I- what was that about? Is he-?” you asked, not speaking to anyone in particular. Your words hung in the air, and suddenly the smell of antiseptic grew more overwhelming, the white of the walls brighter, and the weight in your chest heavier. You were suddenly very aware that you were in a hospital.

Nari jumped onto the bed next to you, “He is burdened by guilt. His soul aches for you.”

“Oh,” your words felt small in the vast void that was this demon ordeal.

“He’s...he’s scared (Y/N). He doesn’t want you to hate him, and he’s scared that you will. Not to mention that he hasn’t left your side at all. He was terrified that you were lost to us. And he keeps trying to take full responsibility for this possession mess.”

“But I don’t-I could never hate him, I just can’t. And I’m alive now, I’m okay, I-”

“Then please,” Archie’s voice sounded desperate, and it made you worry for Douxie a little more, “Please, tell him.”

“I will.”

The room was silent for a moment, the weight of the words that went unsaid hanging heavy in the air. 

But it never stays silent for long. Not in Arcadia, anyway.

“So, how are you guys? Y’all ok?”

“No, (Y/N), this is about you, how are _you_ feeling?”

You scratched under the dragon’s chin with a smile, “As good as I can be, I guess. I’m pretty sure I’ve felt worse, to be honest.”

“You have,” Nari said, petting your hand.

“See! There you go! Proof!”

“I don’t know if that’s something to celebrate…”

“It is. Trust me.”

“(Y/N)!!” Another voice came from the door. A few of them, actually.

“Hey guys, wh-” You couldn’t finish your sentence due to the ensuing bear hug. Claire, Jim, and Toby were getting dangerously close to crushing Archie in the process, but you didn’t mind that much. It was quite nice actually, to be hugged a little bit.

“Ok children, don’t crush the nice witch please.” Zoe’s voice was comforting to you. It got even better when she was dragged into the hug. There was only one thing, or rather, one person missing.

“Hey, Zoe.”

“Hey, (L/N). How’re you feeling?” 

You gave her the same response you gave Archie as the hug dissipated. Nari was still holding your hand, but Toby had picked up Archie and Claire now sat at the foot of your bed, Jim’s arm around her shoulders.

“Good,” the hedgewitch said, “Now don’t ever scare us like that again, or I _will_ kill you.”

“I believe you, 100%.”

“Good!” Zoe took a second to mess up your hair, which was surprisingly neat for someone who’d been in a coma, “You should believe me.”

Your small gang of children and magical beings chatted for a bit before a doctor appeared in the doorway. Your posse was kicked out of the room, but not without some hugs, and a promise to check in when the doctor left. To check in on you, and on Douxie.

Speaking of, your wizard was in a broom closet, trying not to break down. He was so relieved that you were alive, so proud of you for pulling through, and so glad that you were okay, but that didn’t make the guilty feelings go away. They were stuck to him, hanging over his head like a dark cloud. And it wasn’t just guilt. As much as he loved you, he couldn’t be sure you loved him anymore, and as selfish as it was, the thought made him sick. He didn’t expect you to forgive him. Hell, he wasn’t sure he wanted you to forgive him. Was that something he deserved? He didn’t think he did.

So, instead of taking you home himself, he let Claire shadow portal you, Jim and Toby there. He stayed back, getting a ride with Zoe.

The car was quiet, maybe a little too much so. Nari and Archie were asleep in the back, Zoe was behind the wheel, and Douxie was swimming in guilt.

“They don’t blame you, y’know. No one blames you. You were possessed, it wasn’t your fault.”

Douxie was a little surprised by Zoe’s words, but he stared straight ahead as he answered, “I… I can’t go without blame for this, Zoe, I have to take responsibility for my actions.”

“But they weren’t _your_ actions. It was a demon, Casperan. A demon. You both did everything you could, and if (Y/N) ended up in the hospital, that isn’t on either of you. Now listen, I get that torturing the love of your life fucked you up, and I don’t blame you for that, but right now you need to be there for them. They need you as much as you need them, got it?”

“I-” Douxie had to admit she had a hell of a point, but he’d thought about this, “They don’t need me. If anything, they should be scared of me, I-I _tortured them_ , Zoe. I hurt them, and I-”

Zoe hit the breaks, almost slamming Douxie’s face into the dashboard, “For god’s sake, Casperan, (Y/N) (L/N) has _never_ been afraid of you. I don’t think that’s actually possible. I know it’s bad right now, but you are going to have to face this, so when we get back to your apartment you are going to get in there and take care of your significant other! Got it?”

Douxie said nothing. He just nodded.

The rest of the ride was as silent as the beginning. 

Your apartment wasn’t silent though. How could it be, there were children in there. 

Jim, Toby and Claire were rushing around the small space, trying to make sure you were taken care of. They had wrapped you in blankets, sat you on the couch, and brought you water and soup. You had no idea where the soup had come from. (Your best guess was that Jim made it, but you were not sure.)

Then they sat with you, just chatting about whatever. It was nice, really, to focus on the mundane instead of the demonic. You hoped that things could carry on that way. After all, now that the demon was dead, you didn’t have much to be afraid of. So, you let yourself relax, settling into the couch while the children debated whether or not mustard was valid.

It should have gotten better when your boyfriend came home. Instead, it got quiet. At least for you. Your eyes didn’t leave him as the kids said goodbye to both of you, leaving with Zoe. Nari and Archie darted in before hiding themselves away in your bedroom. Douxie shut the door behind him before turning to face you.

Everything was still.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

You moved around, trying to keep the blanket around your shoulders, “So, uh… how are you?”

He sighed, leaning against the door, “This isn’t-this isn’t going to be about me, (Y/N). You just came back from a coma, how are you?”

“I’m-” you cut yourself off, not sure of your answer. How were you, really? Well, you were happy to be at home. And you were happy that Douxie wasn’t killed by the possession or the stab wound, but… you also felt guilty. And tired. And everything hurt. You really just wanted to take a nap in your boyfriend’s arms, but you knew that wouldn’t be as easy as it sounded. Not while he was still scared.

“I’m alive,” your voice was quieter than you’d expected, “I’m alive. That’s all I can be.”

Douxie nodded, staring at the ground, “I’m glad you are… like, really, (Y/N), if you’d died, I-” his voice broke, and you could practically hear the tears in his eyes, “I don’t know what I would do.”

“Well, I’m here,” you stood up, still clinging to the blanket, “And you can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“Please, (Y/N), I almost-”

You crossed the room to stand in front of him. He didn’t meet your gaze, looking anywhere but you. You tilted your head, asking a wordless question. He answered, finally looking at you.

“I almost lost you. I almost lost you, and it would have been my fault. I hurt you, love, and I’m so sorry,” his voice dropped to a whisper as he dropped to his knees, “I’m so sorry.”

You followed him to the ground, your hands hovering halfway to his face, “No, darling, no, this-you have nothing to be sorry for. You didn’t hurt me, the demon did. This wasn’t your fault, I promise.”

When he didn’t respond, you took a deep breath before lowering your hands, holding them just above his wrists, “May I?”

He finally looked at you, the tears on his cheeks breaking your heart. He nodded with the smallest of motions, and you wrapped your fingers around his arms, bringing them around your waist. You put his hands on your body and moved your hands to his chest, moving them up to his face. You made sure every movement was slow and careful, for both your sake and his. Pulling yourself closer to him, you let your head rest on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry this happened, love. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop it.”

“I know, I’m sorry too. I’m glad it’s over, though. I never want you to get possessed again.”

You felt Douxie start to relax, his arms shifting to hold you closer, “I don’t really want to get possessed again either.”

“Then we’ve agreed, no more getting possessed?”

“Agreed, no more possession.”

You let out a little laugh before closing your eyes and just letting yourself be. This felt good. Douxie felt good. He was warm, and the feeling of being close to him brought an indescribable sense of euphoria. For the first time in weeks, you felt safe.

“I love you,” he whispered again, his voice further muffled by your hair. You still hear him, though.

“I love you too.”

“Thank you.”

You could not stop the smile that spread across your face at that. There was no slow and no careful left in you. You threw your arms around his neck, clinging to him before bringing your lips to his.

The kiss was soft and sweet, and a little salty from tears, both yours and his. It grounded you, banishing all thoughts of demons and monsters and leaving you in the moment. For Douxie, it did the same and more. To him, it was a reminder that you would love him no matter what, a promise that you still trusted him. You weren’t afraid of him. He knew that now. It would have been a lot better if not for the dull ache that decided to wash over you right then and there. You groaned as you broke the kiss, burying your face in Douxie’s neck, trying to hide from the pain.

“Sorry, love.”

“Eh, it’s chill. Everything just… hurts. Everywhere.”

He kissed your forehead, slipping an arm under your knees and leaving the other on your back, “Come on, then,” he scooped you up and carried you to the couch, “Let me help you.”

You secured the blanket around you, leaning into his chest and listening to his heartbeat. You gave him a quiet “I love you,” as he placed you on the couch. He took one of your hands, kissing your knuckles.

“I love you too.”

You smirked, grabbing his hand and pulling him onto the couch and wrapping your limbs around him, “You’re trapped now, you can’t leave.” 

“Good,” he returned the hug, “I don’t want to.”

“Very good,” your voice was quiet. Your eyes slid shut, and you finally got to take a high-quality nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and with that, we are back to our regularly scheduled whumptober


	14. Day 27 - Reader (headcanons) | Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, weather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THERE’S FLUFF AND SNOW, ENJOY PLS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lil' bit of blood, this is a MEME

  * K, so im from *the north*, right?
    * So i know me some snow
    * And while this is a whumptober prompt
    * Y’ALL GETTIN SOME FLUFF, K??
    * K
    * SO


  * IT IS VERY WELL ESTABLISHED THAT YOU WOULD FOLLOW DOUXIE TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
  * YOU’D COMPLAIN THE WHOLE TIME, BUT YOU’D BE THERE, AND THAT’S WHAT MATTERS


  * Anyway
  * This time, Douxie’s led you to somewhere cold
  * You’re both searching for some Merlin Macguffin thing, and it’s cold outside 
  * So, y’all find/rent/obtain a cabin which is more or less in the middle of nowhere
  * And yeah, it’s the middle of nowhere, but it’s got candles, and a bed, and electricity so that’s a plus
    * It has electricity because i say so
    * Also, that’s right, there’s only one bed
    * It isn’t really relevant, but you should know


  * SO, Y’ALL IN THE CABIN
  * RESEARCHING
  * AND IT’S CHILL (haha pun)
  * Then you find a lead and go to investigate, this isn’t important, your arm gets a lil’ scratchy scratch, y’all get in, obtain vital information and get out
  * Here’s the problem
  * While you were on your little quest, which was presumably in a cave, a blizzard picked up
  * So now there’s more snow everywhere
  * And you can’t walk super well bc you’re arm got that scratchy scratch and y’know, blood loss is a thing
    * Im not going into that because even though it’s almost 4 am, i don’t want to pass out right now


  * So anyway
  * Archie turns into a bear to get you guys home
  * Archie has become a comrade, don’t @ me
  * Once you guys get to the cabin, Douxie’s primary concern is taking care of you
    * But isn’t it always?
  * After he patches you up, he and Archie go around the cabin looking for blankets
  * They don’t find anything before the power goes out.
  * There isn’t much they can do about that since this cabin had electricity, but no backup generator
    * Really, it’s just a cabin of conveniences for my authoring pleasure
    * And your reading pleasure i assume


  * SO, now there’s no electricity
  * Which means no heat
  * WHICH MEANS IT’S FIRE TIME
  * BOOM, FIRE IN THE FIREPLACE (THANK U ARCHIE)
  * CANDLES EVERYWHERE (THANK U DOUXIE)
  * YOU TECHNICALLY AREN’T ALLOWED TO HELP BECAUSE OF YOUR ARM BUT YOU’RE A LITTLE REBEL WHICH MEANS S W E A T E R S
    * (THANK U, YOU)


  * After the room is decently lit, and as warm as it can be, y’all settle in for the night
  * Archie curls up on the rug in front of the fire and konks the fuck out
  * You and Douxie are on the couch, chillin (ha)
  * He’s reading a book, you’re leaning on him, legs over the side (of the couch, i felt like that needed to be specified)
  * And then it’s quiet
  * Bc snow
  * And it’s dark
  * Bc night
  * And you’re bored 
  * Bc it’s quiet and dark and you want something to dooooooooooooooooooo
    * Is that thing Douxie?? Shit, maybe, idk fam


  * REGARDLESS, YOU TRY CONVERSATING


  * “It’s quiet tonight, huh?” “That’s probably because of the snow, love.” “Mhmm.”


  * Cue you sinking down into the couch further
  * Shivering a little bc it’s cold
  * And trying again


  * “Hey, you know how moths eat through clothing? Wouldn’t it be fucked up if they could eat through people?” He just nods and you continue, “Is that why people are so afraid of mothman, is that what he does? I mean, it’s implied that he ate through that bridge I think. I don’t know though.”


  * He puts the book down and just stares at you for a second.
  * “Yeah, that would be… messy.”
  * It was your turn to nod.


  * AND THEN YOU SHIVERED AGAIN
  * AND YA JUST
  * KEEP SHIVERING
  * BECAUSE IT’S FUCKING COLD
  * FREEZING
  * THE TEMPERATURE IS B E L O W ZERO
  * How is Douxie not cold?
  * Idk
  * I mean, his hands are always cold, i guess it’s just keeping the rest of him warm
    * Sacrifice the hands ig
    * O, shit, maybe it’s the blood loss
    * Who knows


  * SO ANYWAY
  * SINCE DOUXIE IS A CERTIFIED GOOD BOI
  * HE NOTICES YOU ARE COLD
  * So he gets up, pats ur leg and is like, “I’ll brb, love u”
  * And you just kind of sit there 
    * “Alas, he’s finally tired of my bullshit”
    * He isn’t
    * He could never be tired of your bullshit
    * He loves all of you, bullshit included


  * So, yeah, he comes back with a pile of blankets
  * He searched the cabin and just
  * Collected
  * All of them
  * He brings them over to the couch and just starts wrapping you up into a lil’ warmth burrito
  * And to do this, he has to get real close to you
  * So you’re a blushing mess
  * He’s nearing the end of the blanket pile when you grab his hand
  * (which is cold btw)
  * And just
  * Pull him onto the couch
  * And he’s laughing a little bc soft s/o is a feisty little creature
    * Y’all are basically John Mulaney and his wife if that helps


  * Anyway
  * you’ve pulled him towards you and now is the time for cuddles
  * There is no other choice
  * So he lies down and lets you use him as a pillow
  * Ur head is on his chest so you can listen to his heartbeat
  * AND IT’S G R E A T, BECAUSE WHILE HIS HANDS ARE COLD, HIS BODY IS W A R M
  * YOU HAVE ESCAPED THE COLD
  * And then he starts running his fingers through your hair and asldflkasfdkjakldsfahl nice


  * It’s so nice that you start falling asleep
  * Bc hhhhhhhhhh, boyfriend comfy 
  * Said boyfriend picks up his book again, keeping one hand in your hair and he just reads in peace 
  * And it’s
  * Nice




	15. Day 31 - This is going to have a different name on tumblr | Reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so i wrote most of this late at night, and most of it is rushed because i wanted to get it out on halloween, but whatever. take this thing i made, i hope you enjoy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Torture, reader is forced to kiss someone

T’was a long time ago, longer now than it seems, because quarantine likes to fuck up everyone’s time management. It wasn’t actually that long ago if I’m being honest.

It was October, the month leading up to Halloween, and everyone was frickin zazzed. There was a chill in the air, the leaves were changing colours, everything was coated in a solid layer of pumpkin spice, and there were pumpkins everywhere. In short, everything was AWESOME and SPOOKY, and you were EXCITED. It was hard not to be. You were a witch, this was your time! It was literally the season of the witch! However, both Zoe and Douxie managed to maintain a normal amount of excitement.

You, on the other hand, had DECORATED the apartment you shared with Douxie. Fairy lights were INVOLVED. You’d been to spirit Halloween NINE TIMES. You had obtained PUMPKINS. YOU WERE PUMPED.

While he was a lot more chill than you were, Douxie found your love for the holiday very endearing and you were thankful that he kept you grounded. For example, Douxie accompanied you to Spirit Halloween almost every time you went, but he stopped you from dropping three thousand dollars on animatronics. You put little pumpkin lights in the living room, and it made him smile every time the orange glow caught his eye. He let you practice special effects make-up on him, and you got him to relax and watch horror movies with you. You both convince Archie to wear a lil’ witch hat for the holiday. Y’all complete each other, it’s cute. 

All the two of you wanted to do was enjoy the Halloween season, but alas, the plot is a thing, and it has to start somewhere.

-

Five days before Halloween, a storm hit Arcadia. Lightning broke the sky into a thousand pieces, each one sparking some new metaphor. Rain drenched the little town, leaving behind wet pavements to reflect light from the street lamps. The wind almost took down a few branches, and definitely blew away a shit-ton of leaves. But it blew something else into town.

When it comes to wizards, there’s more than one way to gain power. The most extreme way is through murder, but acquiring a mentor is much more common, and reading through someone else’s grimoire works just as well.

Now, this new and strange character that we’ve been vaguely implying had already done the mentor thing. It didn’t work very well. He wasn’t super down with murder, so that was out. All that was left was obtaining someone’s grimoire. The wizarding world was well aware of Merlin’s death, and even more aware of what Merlin had left behind. That’s what this bastard was out to find. And he knew just how to get it.

So, while the Arcadians hung out inside, avoiding the storm, a new and entirely different problem rolled into town.

-

Two days later, you were at Spirit Halloween for the tenth time. It was just what you did in October. You walked through the streets, admiring the leaves (or what was left of them after the storm) until you found yourself outside the store. What was left to do but enter?

So you did. You wandered around the aisles, browsing through various costume pieces, masks, makeup products, and props. A few capsules of fake blood caught your eye, and so you hovered there for a few moments, just examining the little red pill-shaped tools. You were about to move on when you felt someone’s hand on your shoulder.

“Excuse me, do you know if those witch costumes are anywhere near authentic?” He pointed to another section of the store where various cloaks and robes hung on a wall.

You were old enough, actually, to know if those were authentic. They weren’t. But this guy didn’t need to know that, “Sorry, I don’t know.”

“What a shame.”

“Yeah…”

You tried to turn your attention back to the blood, not super comfortable with a stranger touching and talking to you unprompted. He didn’t seem to notice this, once again placing a hand on your shoulder, this time closer to your neck.

“What about the grimoires, sweetheart, are they accurate?”

You were a bit taken aback by the sudden nickname, not realizing that you could even  _ be _ this uncomfortable. It took you a second to realize that he had asked you a question, and it took you another second after that to realize Spirit Halloween didn’t even sell grimoires. Tarot cards? Yes. Novelty witchcraft crap? Yes. But they didn’t do grimoires. Something was up, and it went deeper than a stereotypical creep.

“I’m sorry?”

“The grimoire in your possession. Is it accurate? Is it truly his?”

Shit, that wasn’t good. This guy knew way more than he should have, and you needed to leave. Now.

You turned to face him and took a few steps back, though this creep matched every step you took. 

“I would love to read it. I’d do anything to get my hands on it. You have it, don’t you? You and the  _ apprentice _ .”

He spat Douxie’s old title with a venom you couldn’t quite name. Whatever it was, it made you want to run. But you couldn’t run. Not yet. You didn’t want to turn away from this man until you were sure he wouldn’t try anything, and if that meant you had to face him and walk out of Spirit Halloween backwards, you absolutely would. For now, you kept moving, one foot after the other until he spoke again.

“I want the book, (Y/N).”

You froze entirely, the blood in your veins turning to ice. Knowing vaguely who you were was one thing. You were, after all, associated with Merlin’s successor, news like that was bound to get around, but you and Douxie had remained relatively anonymous for the most part. How did this guy know your name?

Your eyes darted from side to side, searching desperately for an employee, another customer, for anyone really. But of course, your life is a horror movie, so you were alone. It was time to improvise, “I’m sorry, you must have the wrong person, I’m just here for, uh-” your eyes drifted once again to the fake blood, “Costume make-up, I don’t know-”

“Bullshit.”

The improv didn’t work, abort, abort!

“You know exactly where the grimoire is, sweetheart,” he gripped your chin, forcing you to face him, “And you’re going to bring it to me.”

“Excuse me?”

“The boy is too attached to the old wizard’s memory but you? You have other attachments.”

You tried to speak, but he cut you off, “You will bring the grimoire to me at this address at this time on Hallowe’en night,” he slipped a piece of paper into your hand, “And if you should fail, well-” His hand slipped up your arm, and you felt the familiar buzz of magic. Then the spell set in.

It was a fight to keep from screaming, an uphill battle that you were swiftly losing. Your teeth sunk into your lip as white-hot agony consumed you, lighting every nerve on fire and burning you away. The man’s face faded from view as your vision blurred. It felt like your limbs were being ripped away from your core. You struggled to stay standing, your body was racked with pain. You had no clue what he had done to you, but whatever it was made you long for death. It was a special kind of torture, you decided, whatever speel this was felt like it was bringing you close to death, dangling you over the sweet abyss with no relief.

And then it stopped.

You dropped to your knees, breathing hard as you were released from the spell. Tears fell from your eyes as you coughed, trying not to throw up in the middle of the store.

“What-” you rasped, “What did you do to me?”

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he smirked, kneeling down to your level and grabbing a fistful of your hair, “I just showed you what I’m going to do to you if you fail,” he got closer to you, whispering in your ear, “Imagine. Imagine that blinding pain for the rest of your life. Imagine longing for the sweet embrace of death and feeling its scorn every time. If you fail me you will suffer.”

Y’know, that sounded bad, but you knew some things were worse. 

Douxie lost Merlin, his mentor, his father-figure, the man who saved him from the streets and spared his life. And it wasn’t just Merlin, it was almost every trace of Merlin. His staff, Camelot, everything that Merlin was was gone except for that book. You knew Douxie was strong. You knew he was willing to sacrifice his happiness for the good of those around him. You knew that if you told him what happened he would give you the grimoire. He would do anything to protect you, and he already had. He’d given up everything for the good of this world, and you weren’t going to make him give up the grimoire.

But this man, this wizard who cornered and hurt you already knew that.

His lips were still against your ear, and he whispered, “But none of what I’ll do to you compares to what I’ll do to the apprentice.”

For a second, you stopped breathing. The thought of Douxie having to go through that - it dealt a lot of psychic damage. As much as you wanted to protect him, you had to hurt him one way or another.

The man stood, leaving you a shaking mess on the ground, “Tik Tok, (Y/N). I’ll see you soon.”

And then he was gone.

-

It took you a few minutes to pick yourself up off the ground. At that point, the man was gone, and the employees and shoppers had miraculously returned to the store. You got up, moving through the store as if through a dream. You were on autopilot. And your autopilot self decided to buy fake blood.

You felt numb as you walked home, not from the cold but from the sheer shock of everything. This time you didn't notice the leaves or the pumpkins. You didn’t notice anything. You didn’t even notice when you narrowly missed walking into Claire.

“Oh, (Y/N)! Hey!”

“Ah, hi Claire.”

The young sorceress looked like she was going to say something, but she stopped herself when she noticed that something was off.

“Are you alright? You look a little shaken…”

“I-I’m fine, I just-” before you could say anything else, your voice stopped working. You tried to speak, but there was no sound. Something was keeping you from telling Claire about what just happened.

“(Y/N)?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I have to-I have to go,” you ran home after that, not really caring whether or not Claire thought you were crazy. You didn’t care if anyone thought you were going crazy. Maybe you were. You were just losing your mind, or something, anything other than this floaty, fuzzy feeling that followed the pain.

You burst through the apartment door, a bit relieved that Douxie was still at work. You didn’t want him to see you like this. There was nothing that could be done about Archie, though. The familiar was stretched out on the couch under the pumpkin lights you’d set up, fast asleep Or he had been until you came in.

“(Y/N)? Are you alright?”

“I-I’m… I’m fine, Archie.”

You tried to calm yourself down, to stop shaking for two seconds while you threw the bag of fake blood into the bathroom. What did you do normally, when you hadn’t been traumatized and forced to either steal the last memento your boyfriend had of his father-figure or subject him to literal torture. Was it small talk? Did you do small talk, was that it?

“So, uh, Arch, how was your day?”

“It was fine, are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m fine, I’m okay, I just… need a nap?”

It was an obvious lie and Archie saw right through you. Even if you were better at lying, Archie would have seen through you. He’s a familiar, and he has been for years. He has a sixth sense for these things. 

“I’m having a hard time believing you, (Y/N). Please just tell me what’s wrong.”

Against your better judgment, you opened your mouth, deciding you would try talking about this again. It didn’t work. Your voice was once again frozen in your throat. Shit.

“I’m sorry Arch, I just need… I just need to sleep.” 

You didn’t give him time to respond to that before you locked yourself in the bedroom. Once inside, you collapsed on the bed and stared at the ceiling. You wanted to cry, or to scream, or to do  _ something, _ but what could you do? You had two options laid out in front of you, and they were both horrible. You needed some kind of plan, but what plan could you form when you couldn’t talk about this? 

You sat up off the bed, pulling yourself to the end of it and throwing your upper half over the side, stretching your arms under the bed. You searched for a few minutes before you found what you were looking for. The grimoire. Maybe under the bed wasn’t the most secure place to hide things, but it worked for you. And no one would really expect the two of you to keep something so important in such an obvious place, but alas, neither of you had any brain cells. You pulled the book from its hiding spot and placed it on the bed next to you. The cover was the same intricate piece of work you remembered. It was beautiful, and the sentimental value it carried could not be expressed with words. You opened the book, flipping through its weathered old pages. You couldn’t read ancient draconic. No one could except for Archie’s dad. Fortunately, some pages had translations written in the margins or on notes stuck onto the paper. The mix of writing, Merlin’s and Douxie’s was just another reminder that you couldn’t do this. You needed a plan. 

You flipped to a random page. 

And then you remembered the fake blood in your bathroom.

A plan started to form.

It was research time.

-

For the next few days, you were quiet, distant, and reserved. 

It sent all of your friends into a panic.

Two days after what you’d dubbed the ‘Spirit Halloween Bitch” incident, they’d gathered in Jim’s living room (because that’s the only place meetings can be held apparently) to discuss the changes in your behaviour.

“Douxie, what did you do?” It was true that Jim had warmed to Douxie after the Arcane Order/Genesis Seals business, but you were like an older sibling to him, and he wanted to protect you the same way he wanted to protect the rest of his family.

“I don’t know what I did. I’ve tried to ask, but every time I do they just shut down.”

“Ok, to be fair,” Clair interjected, bringing her hands together, “We don’t know if this is actually because of something Douxie did.”

Archie flew down to perch on the back of Claire’s chair, “Indeed. They’ve been off ever since they came home Wednesday.”

“Ok, maybe something happened while they were out?” 

“Maybe she’s been replaced with a robot,” Krel said, only half-joking.

“Like, maybe they took our (Y/N) and replaced her evil twin!” Steve exclaimed, not at all joking. Everyone gave him a look, but he was the closest to the truth. They didn’t know that though.

“I doubt that buddy,” Toby patted the taller boy on the head.

“So, what happened to them?” 

There was a moment of silence while everyone tried to piece together exactly what happened. That moment of silence became a minute of silence, and then ten, and then twenty and so on until this group of warrior children, their wizard dad and his familiar had been sitting there brainstorming for over an hour. It was a weird sight to walk in on. Poor Nomura.

“What? Is going on here?”

“We’re trying to figure out why (Y/N)’s been acting weird,” Toby didn’t even look at the changeling when he responded. He just kept staring into the orange void that was the pumpkin on his lap.

“And are you having any… luck with that?”

“No.”

And with that little word, your gang of children, plus your boyfriend and his familiar all visibly deflated, sinking back into their chairs or onto the floor. Toby leaned onto the pumpkin, using it as a pillow, which was very valid of him.

“Have you asked them if somethings wrong?”

“Yes, a million times, but they always shut down. I can’t help but feel like this is my fault.”

“Shut it, Teach. (Y/N) loves you and if you did something wrong they’d let you know.”

“Wait a second, what do you mean by shut down?”

“It’s a human thing,” Jim tried to explain, “If someone doesn’t want to talk about something they just kind of…” he trailed off, but Nomura got the idea.

“Well, uh… good luck with that.”

“Thanks.”

Nomura walked off, and as the gang of stray children continued to talk, Steve followed the changeling. He didn’t really follow the changeling per-say, he sort of just wandered off. He kept going until he left Jim’s house and found himself at your apartment. The door was open. He let himself in.

“Spooky witch lady? Are you home?”

Steve’s voice shook you from your work, making you jump a little. He couldn’t see you, but you were still a bit embarrassed. You got up from your place on the bed, leaving your work unfinished. The small explosive device, leather-bound book and collection of photos would have to wait.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m in here, hi Steve.”

“Oh! Hey (Y//N)! What’s up?”

“Uh, not much. How are you?”

“I’m aight. Everyone’s acting kinda weird though.”

Your eyebrows knit together, “Oh?”

“Yeah, they’re really worried about you. Hey, do you think a bear would make a good knight? Because it’s still just me right now, and I need more knights.”

“I’m-” You had to put a hand on the counter to steady yourself. Two days of paranoia and they had noticed. And they cared. You loved your pack of wild children so much. You loved Douxie so much. That’s why you had to keep working. You had to deliver the grimoire tomorrow, and while your plan was coming along, you had to stay on guard.

“I think a bear would make an excellent knight, Steve.”

“I knew it.”

You nodded lamely, your thoughts returning to the work you left in your room.

“So can I get you anything?”

“Nah. Is it cool if I just chill here for a bit?”

“Sure. I’m in my room if you need anything.”

And the two of you went your separate ways. You returned to your work, and Steve watched Netflix for thirty minutes. Then he got bored and wandered into your room. You gave a small nod to acknowledge his presence before returning to the device on your bed. You’d focused on it hard enough that you didn’t notice when Steve started leafing through your research. 

“Hey, (Y/N)?”

“What’s up?”

“Who’s this guy?” He held up a picture of the wizard, and you cringed.

“He’s just someone who’s been giving me some problems.”

“Oh. Do you need some help with that?”

You blinked, a little confused, and a little concerned. But you knew you couldn’t do this alone.

“Yes, actually.”

-

And then, like every other day in this godforsaken year, Halloween broke down the door, kidnapped your second cousins, poisoned your crops and ate all of your food. You were kind of ready for it. Your friends were still panicking. They still weren’t sure what made you shut off, even after hours of debate. Nomura was brought in twice as a moderator, Steve eventually returned to the group, but he had nothing useful to share as you’d sworn him to secrecy, and Strickler entered the room only to turn right around and walk out once he saw the cult forming there. At the end of the day, they still had no real idea of what was going on, and they had no plan. The general consensus was that you were under some kind of spell, though they weren’t sure what it was or where it had come from. 

You were significantly more prepared in comparison. You waited until the sun began to set. Then, you put on a mask and some eyeliner and shoved a leather-bound book, the grimoire and the device into your bag. You left the paper the wizard had given you on the table, the time and address facing up. That way, if you didn’t come home, Douxie would at least know where to find your body. Man, that was morbid. T’is the season I guess. Or maybe it’s “T’is sometimes the older siblings of the kids you've decided to guard show up looking for power and the only plan you have to stop him could easily result in your death?” Either way, morbid. 

With one last look at your apartment, which was of course covered in various Halloween decorations and warm with the glow of pumpkin-themed lights. Celebrating Halloween seemed so far away at that point, so weird and so trivial. But the lights still made you grin, and with that, you made your way out into the night.

Arcadia was a lively town, as Aja would call it, especially so on Halloween. Costumed children were running around, wreaking havoc and eating candy. Various lights and decorations lit up houses and driveways. It was a mix of purple and red that contrasted with the orange aesthetic the town had maintained thus far into the month. It was nice though. The light reflected off of the damp pavement once again, bringing everything to life. No matter how nice it was, or how on point™ the vibes were, you made your way to the address as fast as you could. You didn’t want this to take longer than it had to.

Back at your apartment, Douxie found the note. He panicked a little, not knowing exactly what this meant, but it was the biggest clue anyone had on what the fuck was up with you. He practically jumped out of a window in his haste to get down to street level. Archie flew behind him, wings beating harder with every second. Somehow, Douxie maintained enough composure to call Claire and give her an update on the situation. Claire would then gather the rest of the child cult army and get them to the address. There wasn’t much else they could do now but get there as fast as possible.

You, however, had a head start. The address belonged to an older house on the outskirts of town, off of the beaten path and surrounded by trees. It was a little rundown and probably haunted, but that didn’t stop Arcadia’s twenty-something population from partying there. Taking a deep breath, you went in through the front door and entered a world that smelled like vomit, booze, and weed. The lights were bright, the music was loud, and you really wanted to leave. You couldn’t do that though. Not yet. Every single one of your nerves stood on end as the gravity of the situation set in for the twenty-fourth time. If you failed, if your plan fell through, you were screwed. And not only you, if you messed this up you damned your boyfriend to what was probably eternal torture. It was not a happy thought. You tried to snap yourself out of it, weaving your way through the crowd, trying to find Steve’s brother. You succeeded, but not before running into Zoe. All according to your master plan.

“Oh! Zoe! Hi!”

“Heyyy, (Y/N). Are you ok? You seem a little on edge.”

So, apparently, you’re just an open book and literally everyone in Acadia can tell when something is wrong, but whatever. You knew from past experiences that you wouldn’t be able, to tell the truth here. You did, however, have an opportunity.

“Yeah, I’m… I’m okay. Actually, I do need you to do something for me.”

“Ok?”

“Here.” you opened your bag and pulled out the grimoire, “Can you hang onto this for me?”

“Uh, sure? Wait, is this Merlin’s-”

You didn’t let her finish, “Thanks Zoe, I love you, I have to go, bye.”

The poor witch was left staring after you while you ran deeper into the building. Alas, her confusion was a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things. You weren’t sure if Zoe was going to be here, but something had gone right for once, and you had the chance to get the grimoire into safe hands. True, you could have left it at home, or with Jim’s mom, or with one of the changelings, but this was unexpected. This wasn’t something anyone could see coming. And you knew Zoe wouldn’t read it, which was a bonus. Now you just had to go through the rest of the plan without dying. Piece of cake. 

You made your way through the halls which seemed to twist on forever into oblivion. The crowd thinned as you went, making it a bit easier to move. The house seemed to get older as you went as well, but that was just something haunted houses did, in your opinion. Nothing too unusual there. Fireworks exploded outside, the explosions lighting up the rooms you moved through better than the actual lights. It would have been nice if they didn’t remind you of gunshots.

Outside, Douxie was thinking the same thing. The children had assembled. The search for you had begun. And it was going nowhere. Or it was until Douxie ran into Zoe.

“Zoe! Have you seen (Y/N)!? Please, it’s important.”

“Uh, yeah, actually, they ran that way. What’s going on with you two? When I talked to them earlier, they gave me this,” she shoved the grimoire towards Douxie, sending him down a spiral of confusing questions that he had no time for, “They seemed upset, is everything okay?”

“I don’t know. Come on, we have to find them!”

Zoe didn’t really have a choice but to go after Douxie, so she followed him to find where you went.

You found what you were looking for. Of course, you did, he was waiting for you at the end of the hall. You bit your lip before you began your approach. Every step you took was hesitant. It felt like you were walking on eggshells like at any moment the floor would open up beneath you and swallow you whole. It didn’t but you almost wished it did.

“There you are sweetheart, I almost thought you wouldn’t make it.”

“Good for you.”

“Now, now, no need to be rude. Do you have it?”

“Depends. Will you give it back?”

He tilted his head, raising an eyebrow and totally judging you, “I think we both know the answer to that.”

“Yeah. We do,” you pulled your bag off your shoulder and took the leather-bound book from it. You placed it on the ground and kicked it towards him, “There, you have it. Can I go now?”

“Just wait,” he said, picking up the book, “Let’s see what we have here.”

You froze, trying to remain calm while fighting off the surge of panic that hit you. You watched as he ran his hand over the cover, looking down at the dull leather in his hands. Your heart beat faster and faster as he opened it, the one thing you’d hoped he wouldn’t do.

“Ok, I’m just gonna go, uh-”

“Wait.”

Shit.

“This… this is a copy of Twilight!”

“How would you know that!?”

“You thought you could deceive me!?”

“Not really. That’s why I have a back-up plan.”

“Don’t try my patience.”

“I’m not, I promise. I really do have another solution.”

“And that is?”

You tried to calm your breathing as you explained yourself, taking a few more steps towards the wizard. This was it, a matter of life and torture. You had to sell it.

“When it comes to wizards, there’s more than one way to gain power. Acquiring a mentor is the most common, but that didn’t work well for you, did it? So you’re trying to make up for it by reading through someone else’s grimoire, but not just anyone’s grimoire, you want Merlin’s specifically. Well, I’m sorry, but it isn’t yours to take,” you shook as you finished your walk, standing in front of this crazed wizard. You knew what came next, you just had to hope it worked.

“There is one more way to gain power for people like us.”

“It’s a savage custom. I am more civilized than that.”

“But it works, doesn’t it?”

He stared you down, fixing you with a glare that made you want to curl up and die. A lot of things seemed to do that lately. 

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying you should kill me if you want power.”

“And you would do that? You would give up your life just to keep your precious boyfriend’s book safe?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re insane.”

“So I’ve been told. But if you’re willing to torture me for the book, why not cut out the middle man and just kill me for power?”

He considered this, looking away from you for a moment. You heard something behind you, someone calling your name. You turned to see what it was, but the wizard grabbed your face, turning you to face him.

“You make an excellent point, (Y/N).”

And then he kissed you.

Douxie had been running for what felt like forever. Zoe and Archie stayed at his side as they searched for you. He called out your name, but there was no response. And then he saw it.

At the end of the hallway, you stood facing another man, no, not facing him. His lips were on yours, he was kissing you. What… What was going on here? Douxie felt so many things at that moment. Too many things. It was more than a little overwhelming. He felt himself go numb, felt his heart stop in his chest. He couldn’t be seeing this, it just wasn’t possible.

He took a step back. And then another, and another until he couldn’t see you anymore. He wasn’t sure if Zoe and Archie were still with him. He wasn’t sure of anything except for the bright lights and loud music. The only thing he could think of was the song that was playing. You loved this song. And for a second, that was all there was.

“Douxie! Have you found them yet?” Claire shoved her way through the crowd, dragging Jim and Toby behind her.

He couldn’t answer so Zoe spoke for him, “Uh, yeah, we… we did.”

“What’s wrong!? Are they okay?”

“They’re alright,” Douxie’s voice was weaker than he would have liked it to be, but he couldn’t be blamed for that. As far as he knew, his long term significant other had just cheated on him.

“(Y/N) was… kissing someone else.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, exactly.”

While the group took in and processed the shock of this revelation, Steve rolled up, some kind of Halloween themed food in his hand, “Hey guys, have you found (Y/N) yet?”

“We did, but-”

“Nice. Did they set that creep on fire yet?”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face Steve.

“What?”

“Yeah, there was this guy causing trouble of some kind, so they made a plan to set him on fire.”

“I’m sorry-” Douxie’s voice shook as he processed the shock of this  _ new _ revelation.

“Wait, Steve what does this guy look like?” Zoe cut through her emotions and got to the point.

Steve continued to describe the exact same man that you’d just kissed.

“Shit.”

You were not okay with this. You’d just been kissed by this guy who you hated, and you were not okay with it. However, it did give you a chance to plant your little device. Originally, you were just going to throw it at him, but attaching it to his jacket worked just as well if not better. As soon as your bomb was clipped on, you pushed him away.

“What the hell was that?!”

“Sorry sweetheart, your boyfriend saw us. I’m assuming he wouldn’t let me kill you, so I took initiative.”

“Fuck you.”

“Come on now, I didn’t do that to torment you, I did it so I could kill you in peace.”

“You realize how that sounds.”

“I do. But alas,” he took a step back, a sword materialized in his hands, and you silently thanked whatever deities were out there because your plan would not have worked if he used a gun. There were forty-five seconds of silence.

And then he attacked you.

You jumped away out of instinct, but alas, he persisted. This time you stayed put, allowing him to swing his sword at your stomach. The blade hit you, and blood cascaded down your body. You fell to your knees, more blood leaking from your mouth. You thought he’d be satisfied with that, but nope. He just had to kick you across the room. You hit your head, and once again, the world went all fuzzy. Man, this sucked.

You heard someone call your name for the second time that night. Was that just a thing people were doing now? You weren’t sure, but as your vision cleared, you saw Douxie hovering over you. Infidelity or otherwise, it didn’t look like he would just let this guy kill you.

While you were chilling, relaxed merely by Douxie’s presence, he was having a fuckin panic attack. There was so much blood, too much almost. You were going to die here and it was because he didn’t trust you, because he’d turned his back on you and left you alone with this creep.

“Well, I didn’t expect you to return.”

“What did you do?!”

“Well, I think it’s pretty obvious what I did. Don’t worry, their sacrifice won’t be in vain.”

The rest of your child cult ran into the room, throwing spells and various objects at the wizard. He dogged, effortlessly. Zoe stopped the kids quickly before turning back to the bastard, “Wait, what do you mean ‘sacrifice’?” 

“I mean I gave them the choice between giving me Merlin’s grimoire and eternal torture for them and the  _ apprentice. _ They chose death.”

“Oh my god, (Y/N), you idiot,” Zoe said, trying to meme through the pain. She turned her attention back to the bitch boi, “You won’t get away with this.”

“I won’t if I don’t kill you,” He took up his sword again only to be punched in the face by Steve.

“Killing my friends is not cool bro!”

“What??”

“Like I said. Not cool.”

You shot up, tired of playing dead, “Steve! Move!”

Steve, who had helped you assemble the device, knew what you were talking about and jumped out of the way just as you pressed the detonator.

It wasn’t a big explosion. It was a little one, just large enough to set the bastard’s clothes on fire. He panicked the same way anyone would, jumping back and trying to extinguish the flames.

“Claire, portal!” You cried. The girl knew what to do, and instantly, a portal opened underneath the wizard, plunging him into a dark abyss.

“Take that, buttsnack.”

You rolled back onto the floor, breathing a sigh of relief, “Thank you.”

“What the hell just happened!?” It wasn’t exactly a ‘you’re welcome’ but it was definitely justified. 

You got up from the ground, kneeling for a minute, “It’s kind of a long story.”

“I-Are you-” you turned to Douxie, waiting as he organized his thoughts. You weren’t expecting too much. He  _ had  _ seen you kiss another guy, and even though that wasn’t your choice, there was no way for him to know that. What you didn’t expect was for his face to soften, for one of his hands to brush a stray hair out of your face, for him to ask, in the most gentle voice ever, “Are you okay, darling?”

You almost cried. Almost. If you were alone you would have started sobbing. But you weren’t alone. Not anymore. Your hand reached up to your face, taking off your mask, “I will be.”

He smiled a little, and that was enough for you.

Douxie and Steve helped you to your feet, and you leaned on them for support as you left the old house. Once outside, you finally had a chance to admire the fireworks bursting over the town. You could finally breathe again.

“Thanks, you guys. For coming back for me. Whatever you saw in there, I-”

“It’s no problem witch homie,” Steve said, patting you on the shoulder.

“Thank you, though. Oh, and I-uh… I didn’t cheat on you, by the way. I didn’t want to kiss him, I-”

“(Y/N)?”

“Yeah?”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

A small grin made its way onto your lips, “Let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s just do Halloween things for now, okay?”

“Okay,” Douxie smiled, pulling you closer to him, “Only Halloween things for now.”

Neither of you could stop grinning for a solid minute. The rest of the world seemed to melt away.

“Wait a second, are you wearing eyeliner?”

“Oh, yeah, I am.”

“But you were wearing a mask, why are you wearing eyeliner?”

“I-” you blinked for a second, trying to figure out why exactly you put on eyeliner, “I don’t know. Because I like it, I guess.”

“It looks nice,” he said, his hand cupping your face, his thumb running over your cheekbone.

“Thank you.”

“Oh my godddd, will you two stop eye-fucking and just kiss already?”

“Zoe, the children!”

“The children are of the same opinion!”

You couldn’t stop laughing after that, your head resting on Douxie’s shoulder.

“Would you be okay with that?”

“Hm?”

“Would you be okay with it if I kissed you?”

“I’d like that very much, actually.”

He moved to kiss you, but at the last second, you stopped him, “Wait, hang on, I’m covered in fake blood. That’ll stain like a bitch.”

“I don’t care, love.”

“Oh! Good.”

And then his lips were on yours. And you were more than okay with it.


	16. So, maybe it isn't 31 chapters

so, it wasn't quite 31 chapters long, but i like it the way it is. Happy Halloween, kids.


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